Obama proclaims H1N1 "national emergency"

by Mritunjay | October 24, 2009 at 08:01 am

741 views | 46 Recommendations | 19 comments

It is official. President Obama has signed a proclaimation which declares H1N1 a national emergency. Till now the government has been ttreading cautiously on the matter with different tones from different quarters. This will allow the medical facilities and doctors more scope to handle the patients. Though vaccines have bene procured and vaccination is on almost all over the nation, the vacination has been affected by availability and reach.

Hopefully the new measure will help control the situation more effectively.

President Obama signed a proclamation declaring the H1N1 influenza a national emergency, giving doctors and medical facilities greater leeway in responding to the flu pandemic.

Obama signed the declaration late Friday, which the White House said allows medical treatment facilities to better handle a surge in flu patients by waiving federal requirements on a case-by-case basis. "The foundation of our national approach to the H1N1 flu has been preparedness at all levels -- personal, business, and government -- and this proclamation helps that effort by advancing our overall response capability," the White House said in a statement. The flu has infected millions of Americans and killed nearly 100 children in the U.S. The chief of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday that over a thousand people have died as a result, with 46 states reporting widespread H1N1 activity. "Since the beginning of the pandemic, we've seen more than 1,000 deaths and 20,000 hospitalizations," said Dr. Thomas Frieden, head of the CDC. "We expect it to occur in waves, but we can't predict when those waves will happen." Sixty million Americans have been vaccinated against the seasonal flu this year, but an additional vaccine against H1N1 has been in short supply. About 120 million doses were expected to be made available by the middle of October, though only 11 million doses have been shipped to health departments for use.

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a211423

at 09:38 on October 24th, 2009

In California vaccine is in short supply or not available at all. The conversation has changed radically from whether to get vacinated to why isn't there enough being made. This could result into a panic situation because of the long lines and people being turned away when vaccine runs out.

This is a national emergency, and it needs to be addressed as such. The warnings of the last year are here, and the companies making vaccine knew how much was needed, so why isn't the vaccine here?

Roy C

at 10:42 on October 24th, 2009

Because of lawsuits, the companies making the vaccines have gotten out of the business. There is not enough money in it. Let's have some tort reform and let's warn people about the side-effects of the vaccine, which, in the last Swine Flu outbreak, killed more people than the 'flu did.

Secondly, the MD orthodoxy needs to finally admit that C in massive quantities does work along with other supplements that boost your immune system's strength.

Frankly, I won't get a swine flu shot. I will, however, be ordering and storing up a kilo of C or so.

Mritunjay

at 12:45 on October 24th, 2009

Normal flu is no less of a killer and hence flu shots should cover maximum no. of 10 strands. Death and illness by normal flu itself is so high:

As influenza is caused by a variety of species and strains of viruses, in any given year some strains can die out while others create epidemics, while yet another strain can cause a pandemic. Typically, in a year's normal two flu seasons (one per hemisphere), there are between three and five million cases of severe illness and up to 500,000 deaths worldwide, which by some definitions is a yearly influenza epidemic.[127] Although the incidence of influenza can vary widely between years, approximately 36,000 deaths and more than 200,000 hospitalizations are directly associated with influenza every year in the United States.[128][129] Roughly three times per century, a pandemic occurs, which infects a large proportion of the world's population and can kill tens of millions of people (see history section). Indeed, one study estimated that if a strain with similar virulence to the 1918 influenza emerged today, it could kill between 50 and 80 million people.

nanute

at 13:13 on October 24th, 2009

Because of lawsuits, the companies making the vaccines have gotten out of the business..
Is this not accurate? Vaccine makers and federal officials will be immune from lawsuits that result from any new swine flu vaccine, under a document signed by Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, government health officials said Friday.

Since the 1980s, the government has protected vaccine makers against lawsuits over the use of childhood vaccines. Instead, a federal court handles claims and decides who will be paid from a special fund. From MSNBC July 20,2009

QueensHart

at 17:50 on October 25th, 2009

What is the latest on this???????????????????????????

October 8, 2009 First Daughters Not Vaccinated Against H1N1

President Obama's school age daughters have not been vaccinated against the H1N1 flu virus. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs says the vaccine is not available to them based on their risk.

The Centers for Disease Control recommend that children ages 6 months through 18 years of age receive a vaccination against the H1N1 flu virus. At this time only children with chronic medical conditions are receiving the vaccination because their immune system is not strong enough to fight off the strain. The CDC also says a regular seasonal flu shot does not protect against the virus.

sara star

at 09:43 on October 24th, 2009

Hate to be cynical, but I wonder where the paper trail (money) leads to.

QueensHart

at 10:35 on October 24th, 2009

I would hope someone here who is not a worshiper of O and Big Pharma would look at the hype about this. Let us have some real documented work here concerning the reasons that so many want to refuse it...including health care workers. Now Public needs to really watch this thread for some accurate information.

Mritunjay

at 10:52 on October 24th, 2009

The amount of investment made by the pharma gaints makes one believe that there is meat to the claims or maybe it's just a tactics to cash on the situation. Either ways it's the general people who at the ned of the day will suffer and pay.

Al-Jazeera disclosed these figures about the pharma majors:

Drug companies	Orders	Clients	Stage	Ingredients
Glaxo SmithKline	440 million	USA, UK, Canada, Oman	Approved by European regulator, distribution underway	• Contains thiomersal and adjuvant
Sanofi-Aventis	120 million	USA, France, Brazil	Distribution started in USA, other countries to receive supplies in November	• Contains thiomersal (in multi-dose vials only) • US-licensed vaccine has no adjuvant • European vaccine will contain adjuvant
AstraZeneca/ Medimmune	40 million	USA	Available in USA; nasal spray, not injection	• No thiomersal, no adjuvant • Licensed only for ages 2-49 who are not pregnant or have respiratory illness • Contains live H1N1 strain (most others contain dead)
CSL	60 million	USA, Australia, Singapore	Available in Australia	• Contains thiomersal (in multi-dose vials only) • No adjuvant • Not licensed for children under 10
Sinovac	6 million	China	Available in China	• No thiomersal, no adjuvant
Novartis	?	USA, Germany, Oman	Approved by European regulator, distribution underway	• Contains thiomersal (in multi-dose vials only) • US-licensed vaccine has no adjuvant • European vaccine will contain adjuvant
Baxter	80 million	UK, France, Ireland, New Zealand	Approved by European regulator, distribution underway	• No thiomersal, no adjuvant Safe for people with egg allergies (most others are not) • Not yet approved for pregnant women/people with respiratory illness

Source: aljazeera.net

Mritunjay

at 11:15 on October 24th, 2009

So USD 767 Million business already (+undisclosed sum of Novartis)

The site had no details about other nations like India where H1N1 has claimed many lives and govt. is stocking the medicine.

Another disclosure also raises some concerns:

In an effort to quickly get large amounts of the H1N1 vaccine out to the world, some pharmaceutical companies have added extra ingredients that may not normally be used in their flu vaccines.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), these ingredients are safe. But you should find out exactly what is in the H1N1 vaccine being made available to you and discuss with your doctor whether it's right for you.

Another site discloses expectations of Novartis and others plans:

Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG said it expects the H1N1 swine flu vaccine to contribute about $400 million to $700 million of sales in the fourth quarter.

Baxter International Inc, which makes a cell culture-based flu vaccine, expects nearly $40 million in H1N1 swine flu vaccine sales in the fourth quarter.

GlaxoSmithKline Plc, Sanofi-Aventis SA and AstraZeneca Plc are all expected to boost their revenues from swine flu-related sales when they report fourth-quarter results.

Johnson & Johnson bought out a stake in Dutch biotech Crucell NV for $444 million to have a firmer foothold in to the influenza vaccine and drug development.

Abbott Laboratories Inc bought drugs unit of Belgium’s Solvay SA, including Solvay’s Dutch cell-based flu vaccine production facility for $6.6 billion.

Merck & Co Inc has struck a deal to distribute seasonal flu vaccine made by Australia’s CSL Ltd.

Global H1N1 swine flu threat has awakened governments from Egypt to India to the need for flu vaccines.

Mritunjay

at 11:10 on October 24th, 2009

The growth projects of the market itself show how this H1N1 scare will convert in revenue terms for the cos.:

H1N1 influenza (swine flu) vaccine market is forecasted to grow beyond $7 billion in next two years, according to a report by Markets and Markets, a research and consulting firm.

H1N1 swine flu vaccine market, which is currently estimated to be of 676 million in 2009 with first lot of doses being commercialized on 30th September’ 2009, will peak to $7.03 billion in 2011 growing at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 222.4% from 2009 to 2011.

The high-speed growth, however, will settle down by 2012 to 30% for the period of 2009 to 2012.

The reason for the sudden settle down of the growth is that it is expected that most of the world population will be immunized by the end of 2011, said the report.

a211423

at 12:00 on October 24th, 2009

Mritunjay

Thank you for the statistics and information.

Pregnant women are four times more likely to be hospitalized with swine flu than the general population.
http://wcbstv.com/health/h1n1.and.pregnancy.2.1251609.html

So if vaccines aren't 100% safe, why risk them?

http://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/features/is-the-h1n1-swine-flu-vaccine-safe

Why should I believe what government scientists say about swine flu?

http://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/features/is-the-h1n1-swine-flu-vaccine-safe?page=2

Read packaged inserts with vaccines.

http://www.vaccinesafety.edu/package_inserts.htm

How do vaccines work.

http://hamptonroads.com/2009/10/all-us-get-flu-shot

The New Pandemic of Vaccine Phobia

http://correspondents.theatlantic.com/david_shenk/2009/10/vaccine_fear.php

Mritunjay

at 12:21 on October 24th, 2009

Thanks for the valuable addition.

a211423

at 12:29 on October 24th, 2009

You are welcome : )

Mritunjay

at 17:01 on October 24th, 2009

It sounded worse that it was. Late Friday evening, with a stroke of his pen, President Barack Obama declared H1N1 a national emergency. The statement said that Obama does "hereby find and proclaim that, given the rapid increase in illness across the Nation may overburden health care resources and that the temporary waiver of certain standard Federal requirements may be warranted in order to enable U.S. health care facilities to implement emergency operations plans, the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic in the United States constitutes a national emergency."

Rhonda J Mangus

at 23:30 on October 24th, 2009

Why President Obama Declared Swine Flu Emergency? (NowPublic Author, nirajan)

Mritunjay

at 05:29 on October 25th, 2009

Because of vaccine production delays, the government has backed off initial, optimistic estimates that as many as 120 million doses would be available by mid-October. As of Wednesday, only 11 million doses had been shipped to health departments, doctor's offices and other providers, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The government now hopes to have about 50 million doses of vaccine for the so-called swine flu out by mid-November and 150 million in December.

"We are nowhere near where we thought we'd be by now," CDC Director Thomas Frieden said Friday. "We share the frustration of people who have waited in line or called a number or checked a Web site and haven't been able to find a place to get vaccinated."

The flu virus has to be grown in chicken eggs, and the yield hasn't been as high as was initially hoped, officials explained.

nanute

at 08:17 on October 26th, 2009

The chickens didn't come home to roost?

Jahoba (not verified)

at 14:29 on October 26th, 2009

I'm reading this from the UK. A few years ago there was a threat of an avarian flu pandemic. At the hight of the propaganda I watched and listened with interest to (if my memory serves me) the united nations head pendemiologist. He state that "Over the next five years there will be between 50,000 and 5,000,000 human deaths in the UK alone". I will remember this comment for a long time.

YankeeJim

at 14:33 on October 28th, 2009

I went to the doctor in September and got the routine flu shot. I asked about N1H1 swine flue vaccination and the doctor said they were awaiting instructions -- check back. I checked back and checked back until I finally contracted the disease.

Hey, Obama, stop making speeches that are full of hot air and manage to get real performance from your administration. There are too many things started and unfinished. Swine flu isn't something to mess with -- I am suffering now and the Obama administration gets a chicken egg for failing to turn my 10 day old embryo into something useful.