Freedom vaccines on their way

Hey, what happened to the winger boycott on all things French?

A French pharmaceutical company will supply 2.6 million extra anti-flu shots to help the United States cope with a vaccine shortage that has sparked public concern, a top US health official said on Tuesday.

These vaccines won't be available until December, and given the lag time for the vaccine to take effect (supposedly two weeks), won't really be effective until January. Flu season has already started.

But in case you are sweating the health of our fearless leaders, please don't. Bush may be unable to defend the American people from the flu, but our government leaders have made sure to take care of themselves.

While many Americans search in vain for flu shots, members and employees of Congress are able to obtain them quickly and at no charge from the Capitol's attending physician, who has urged all 535 lawmakers to get the vaccines even if they are young and healthy.

So long as the government's priorities are in order...

•  *Sigh* The French have to bail us out again

  Bush better be glad that France is more forgiving than he is.

  by FleetAdmiralJ on Wed Oct 20, 2004 at 10:19:50 PM PDT

  •  Freedom vaccines

    In all truth I don't object to the members of government getting vaccines. I think they should. Even though I don't like them they are the leaders at the moment and if they all came down with flu at the same time while I might laugh personally, it wouldn't be good. It's fun to kid around about it, however.

    by fspragens on Thu Oct 21, 2004 at 09:14:26 AM PDT

•  LOVE the Meme

  "Freedom Vaccines!!"

  LMAO!

  Let's run with that. Maybe we can get some additional ones from Montreal up in Canada. After all, they speak French too! :-D

  by wunderwood on Wed Oct 20, 2004 at 10:22:05 PM PDT

  •  No kidding.

    I think that nobody who can be proven to have ever referred non-sarcastically to freedom fries or freedom toast should be allowed to get the french shots when they arrive.

    by MissLaura on Wed Oct 20, 2004 at 10:25:00 PM PDT

    •  If

      French=Freedom now, then this must be a freedom braid.

      by chi mai on Wed Oct 20, 2004 at 10:28:18 PM PDT

      •  And Madonna+Britney

        were freedom kissing?

        by nedog on Wed Oct 20, 2004 at 10:37:44 PM PDT

        •  What a bunch

          of SHIT

          Pardon my freedom!

          by wunderwood on Wed Oct 20, 2004 at 10:59:12 PM PDT

  •  Vaccines...

    ...to protect you from freedom?

    In the current political climate my head swims with all the things that could mean.

    by gong on Wed Oct 20, 2004 at 10:29:18 PM PDT

  •  If you've had a freedom vaccine

    then you can give freedom kisses.

    Or something like that.

    by Plutonium Page on Wed Oct 20, 2004 at 10:32:59 PM PDT

  •  Yay for freedom vaccines!

    I was using the phrase "freedom vaccine" earlier today, and I'm glad to see it coming on.  It highlights:

    1. How valuable international allies really are, and

    2. How silly Republican hate campaigns really are.

    Let's get this meme out into the talk circuit.

    by osterizer on Wed Oct 20, 2004 at 11:01:59 PM PDT

•  Too little, too late

  Hopefully the sniffles won't suppress the vote much.

  by Muboshgu on Wed Oct 20, 2004 at 10:22:35 PM PDT

  •  wait a second...

    maybe that was their plan all along... don't provide enough flu shots, flu epidemic goes around, people are too sick to get to the polls on nov 2 (except for the bush faithful, who all get vaccinated), bush reelected in a landslide with 1% eligable voters turning out... DAMN YOU ROVE!!

    by Muboshgu on Wed Oct 20, 2004 at 10:24:35 PM PDT

    •  Too late

      I already voted.

      by jenrose on Thu Oct 21, 2004 at 02:09:05 AM PDT

•  but remember

  Bush didnt take a flu shot, and this singular act of self sacrifice totally justifies all the crap weve been through over the past four years.

  by math geek on Wed Oct 20, 2004 at 10:22:41 PM PDT

  •  Cheney...

    got his fly shot, because of his faulty ticker.

    Another reason for the seated debate with Edwards.

    I've thought that since the VP was hardly seen up until the core campaigning season that he could spend flu season in a hypobaric plastic bubble.

    That way he could forego getting a flu shot and claim the higher manly man ground. And still be germ/virus free!

    Advanced apologies to Jake Gyllenhaal.

    by rgilly on Thu Oct 21, 2004 at 03:55:57 AM PDT

  •  That explains why he's going to Crawford

    ...this Saturday. The Boy Emperor probably caught the bug on one of his campaign stops and has to be sequestered in White House South to avoid coughing up or looking ill in front of the cameras.

    by Young Freud on Thu Oct 21, 2004 at 07:42:41 AM PDT

  •  Have to say this again

    He lies by omission and he's self-serving. The only thing that makes sense is that he already used the inhaled flu-mist, so he doesn't need the damn shot at all. After all, he's a true patriot who happens to be used to snorting things...cheap shot, but true.

    The only way to tell for sure is for somebody with a nice ripe case of the Bush Flu to crash one of his events and give him a big sloppy wet one right on those skinny lips.
    Volunteers?   Nobody, huh?

    by histopresto on Thu Oct 21, 2004 at 08:52:04 AM PDT

•  That pisses me off.

  The part about even young and healthy people getting it.  I mean, it's not like they're going to be targeted by terrorists with flu germs, for chrissake.  I'm young and not so damn healthy, but I don't know if I'd get one even if it was an option for me.

  by MissLaura on Wed Oct 20, 2004 at 10:23:12 PM PDT

•  January

  Tommy Thompson is all over the airwaves telling people that more vaccine will be available in January, so don't worry. January! Those statements are shameful. Anyone who pays attention knows that the vaccine needs to be taken in Oct/Nov or December at the latest. The flu season peaks in Jan -- that's not the time to take a preventative flu shot. We're in a horrendous situation and they actually have Thompson talking about "January" and how it is all really the "trial lawyers" that got us into this mess. No kidding. He has said that during at least two interviews.

  Every time you think the administration has hit a floor, they exceed your expectations.

  by lapis on Wed Oct 20, 2004 at 10:27:13 PM PDT

•  Freedom Vaccines

  .. for the Bush flu.

  Let's hope the sniffle is gone by mid November.
  

  by Craziel on Wed Oct 20, 2004 at 10:30:11 PM PDT

•  "Your blood is French now."

  That should be the standard line when they press down the cotton swab.

  That'll get all those xenophobes with their dark visions of the "Halls of Europe"

  Allons enfants de la patrie ...

  Jarrett

  by urbanist1962 on Wed Oct 20, 2004 at 10:33:00 PM PDT

  •  Aventis-Pasteur...

    should make a big to-do about this "airlift" of flu vaccine supplies to the "superstitious, backward country" in North America.

    Even go as far as filming the departure of the parcels (festooned with the Tricolore) to 'Murica, in the manner of USAID or CARE. And then filming the grateful recipients of the "cheese eating surrender monkey-frog vaccine".

    And this label would appear on the vaccine ampules:

    Des citoyens de la République Française Aux crétins superstitieux aux Etats-Unis

    by rgilly on Thu Oct 21, 2004 at 04:14:50 AM PDT

•  Priorities

  So long as the government's priorities are in order...

  The government's priorities are rarely our priorities.  They just try to convince us they are.  Our government will not be one "of the people" and thus one with our priorities until our citizens wake up and make it so.

  by pacifica on Wed Oct 20, 2004 at 10:36:24 PM PDT

•  Give them up!!

  The Democrats in Congress should get together and agree not to accept these vaccines.  Only Congressmen who are in 'high risk' categories should take them.  The rest should be donated to people in the DC area.

  This would give some amazing press to the flu shot story.  

  As someone who is young and healthy I know that getting a flu shot this year would only deny someone else a shot (most likely someone who is at higher risk than I am).  So I won't be getting one. (I say to the flu 'bring it on')

  The Democrats need to take the high road on this one and stand with the vast majority of the American people in facing the flu unprotected, thanks to President Bush.  They should then invite the republicans to join them.

  by Snuffleupagus on Wed Oct 20, 2004 at 10:38:39 PM PDT

  •  contact them and tell them so

    send your rep and/or senator an email and tell them so.

    by dcfroglet on Thu Oct 21, 2004 at 09:45:59 AM PDT

•  Does the flu shot keep

  someone from being able to transmit the virus to others? If yes than Congress SHOULD get vaccinated. They interact with a freaking boat load of people.

  They can spread the flu to many, many more people than the average Joe. And we want them, especially Democrats out there working on the campaign trail (even more face to face, kissing babies, hand shaking action).

  In the terms of the book The Tipping Point they are Connectors.

  If you have a transmittable illness the first people you want to have immunized are the connectors.

  by darwinResponse on Wed Oct 20, 2004 at 10:47:06 PM PDT

  •  they don't

    interact with the public anymore than a 64 year old cashier at Walmart who would rather stay home but has to keep working to pay for her prescription drugs. And they aren't any more important.

    by scribeboy on Wed Oct 20, 2004 at 11:11:48 PM PDT

    •  my congressman

      I've been working at my local Democratic party office and I have yet to see my congresscritter (Brad Sherman, CA-27), despite that it's THE campaign office for his district.  I see his mother all the time, but haven't seen him once.  

      by runchadrun on Thu Oct 21, 2004 at 05:19:58 AM PDT

  •  in a sense

    the flu shot keeps you from not spreading the flu to anyone else only in the sense that it helps you keep from getting the flu.

    the only thing that helps you keep from spreading the flu if you have it is staying home and washing your hands.

    by the way, i know a high-ranking exec in the Cleveland Police Dept who met President Bush. Apparently he is an OBSESSIVE user of handi-wipes. He immediately wipes his hand after every handshake session. So I don't think we need to worry about him spreading anything contagious. (but I do think the secret service watched too many episodes of 24).

    by dirtgirl on Thu Oct 21, 2004 at 03:10:35 AM PDT

    •  I'd be doing this too

      And I hope that President Kerry does it as well. It's amazing what you can catch shaking hands and we need our president as healthy as possible. (well, the current one only because the alternative is President Cheney)

      Plane Crazy

      by PlaneCrazy on Thu Oct 21, 2004 at 04:23:04 AM PDT

  •  since it's a virus, not necessarily

    since it's a virus, and you can be contagious both before and after developing symptoms, you could conceivably contract the virus and not develop symptoms (because your vaccine-boosted immune system quickly kills the virus) and still spread it.

    that's why the emphasis is on at-risk people getting it, and why parents of small children are not a risk category as long as the small child themselves gets the vaccine.

    by dcfroglet on Thu Oct 21, 2004 at 09:51:35 AM PDT

•  kerry's health plan

  but wait, isn't kerry's health plan to make available to all americans what is available to members of congress? if that means we all get flu vaccines (or at least all those who really need it), I'm all for it!  Well, I'm all for it anyway, but it is kinda funny that his meme has been "if it's good for congress, it's good for america" and now the difference in available care is there in all its stark contrast for everyone to see.

  by scottmaui on Wed Oct 20, 2004 at 10:53:42 PM PDT

•  First, the good news:

  Bush & Co. have figured out and are implementing a plan to resolve problems with funding for Social Security and Medicare.   Now for the bad news.....

  by NorCalJim on Wed Oct 20, 2004 at 11:04:12 PM PDT

•  I don't mind

  key gov't officials getting flu shots. I think all four (Bush, Cheney, Kerry, and Edwards) should get flu shots.

  My issue is that Bush/Cheney are trying to say that they're not the blame for a problem they ignored.  My issue is that they are trying to say that they have made us safer, which is the complete opposite of the actual truth...the flu vaccine shortage is just symptomatic of this administration.

  They market themselves really well, but there's no substance.  

  by Newsie8200 on Wed Oct 20, 2004 at 11:10:44 PM PDT

•  I assume Bill O'Reilly

  will stick to his boycott of all things French.  He wouldn't stoop to accept a French vaccine, would he?  That would be hypocritical and we all know that O'Reilly isn't a hypocrite.

  His plan to avoid the flu is frequent lathering of the hands with the loofah...er...falafel thingy.

  by Radiowalla on Wed Oct 20, 2004 at 11:27:46 PM PDT

•  le flu

  Not only too late, but too little.

  Chiron (not a British company, they're an American company based in Emeryville, CA, using a British plant to manufacture their vaccine) was supposed to supply the US with 46 to 48 MILLION doses that we're not gonna get.

  So the 2.4 million additional doses that may arrive in January would be around 5% of what we're losing.

  Nice going, FDA.

  by woid on Wed Oct 20, 2004 at 11:31:36 PM PDT

  •  That would be the Powderject factory

    On the Expressway in Liverpool my home town.

    by nevin on Thu Oct 21, 2004 at 04:44:20 AM PDT

  •  C'est "la grippe"

    ...pas "le flu"

    by Rainey on Thu Oct 21, 2004 at 08:02:19 AM PDT

•  A gram of protection, awaiting the ounce....

  ..awaiting the cure.

  In the meantime, remember to wash your hands twice everywhere you go - on arrival, upon departure - and never to put them anywhere near your face. The Japanese, whose urban areas are packed, wear face masks when they have caught a contagious bug. That's the epitome of civility, in my book.

  by Heteraetcaetera on Wed Oct 20, 2004 at 11:34:15 PM PDT

•  I couldn't resist

  

  Now pass the brie.

  -5.88, -6.82

  by Debby on Wed Oct 20, 2004 at 11:35:09 PM PDT

•  Do they know something we don't know?

  Why all the hysteria about these shots suddenly?
  Is it a distraction from election issues or is it the October Surprise chemical/biological attack?
  Why would all employees be "urged to get the vaccines even if they are young and healthy" in the middle of a worrisome shortage?

  by hermit on Thu Oct 21, 2004 at 12:29:21 AM PDT

  •  <shrug>

    Quite frankly, it bemuses me. I avoid the things because I don't think injections containing mercury are a good idea for pregnant women, even if they do say I'm a "high risk" person.

    Come to think of it, Bush is mad as a hatter already, so more mercury would probably be a bad idea....
    

    by jenrose on Thu Oct 21, 2004 at 02:22:20 AM PDT

  •  The other issue

    is that the flu shot is a crapshoot anyway. If Asian bird flu makes the big jump, the flu shot won't do us a damn bit of good, because it's aimed at a different strain. That was the problem last year, wasn't it? That they guessed wrong on which strain would be worse and people got the other one?

    I'd rather work at keeping my system healthy.

    One handy alternative for all of us not running for politics. Eat garlic. If you eat enough of it, no one will come close enough to give you the flu.

    by jenrose on Thu Oct 21, 2004 at 02:24:47 AM PDT

    •  During the ravages of the Great Plague

      Three theives were sentanced to bury the terribly contagious dead in the city of Marseilles. They drank a brew of strong vinegar heavy with garlic (now known as le vinaigre des trois voleurs) and lived to reccommend it. You can still buy it in old-fashioned stores....

      by Heteraetcaetera on Thu Oct 21, 2004 at 05:58:08 AM PDT

•  Actually, it's "worse" than that

  USA has 2 main suppliers of flu shots. One is the currently doomed Chiron, the other is the French Aventis-Pasteur. In fact, most if not all the vaccines available right now are already French, errr, freddom shots. The only way to avoid them would be not to take a shot at all - that may be Bush's real reason ;)
  

  by Clueless Joe on Thu Oct 21, 2004 at 03:04:15 AM PDT

•  letters to the editor

  my LTE didn't get published by the Washington Post :(  but these did...

  The Post explains how flu vaccine shortages are inevitable if we depend on the private sector for this particular health care need ["How U.S. Got Down to Two Makers of Flu Vaccine," front page, Oct. 17]. Where there is no profit, the market will provide no product.

  This predicament arises from the widely held belief that market forces and business models optimize all human activities. What is the rationale for applying business models to activities -- particularly those related to public health -- that not only aren't businesses but are the opposite of businesses, such as government and other nonprofit pursuits?

  Most businesses fail, indicating that a particular business model failed. In many contexts, this is great for the consumer. But which business model should we choose for, say, biomedical research or vaccine production? These are not business activities.

  Health care and vaccine production are the business of government, not of the marketplace. The profit motive is not intended to produce healthful results, only profit.

  TIM CLAIR
  Columbia
  

  It is unimaginable that the health care of high-risk patients is in the hands of grocery stores. Many of us in the high-risk category have gone from shopping center to shopping center trying to obtain a flu vaccine, only to find that all tickets have been given away.

  The government agencies that monitor health should have stepped in and placed all of the available supplies where they belong -- in the hands of physicians who treat high-risk patients.

  ESTHER HERMAN
  Takoma Park
  

  With resigned amusement, I note that while Canadian pharmaceuticals are not safe enough for President Bush, it seems the flu vaccine is ["From the Debate," news story, Oct. 14].

  MARK COLLINS
  Niagara Falls, Ontario
  

  by dirtgirl on Thu Oct 21, 2004 at 03:14:29 AM PDT

•  That's what I thought

  when I heard this on the radio. "Gosh, we can't do that. O'Reilly's boycott of the French is so effective that we'll never get these doses. We're doomed!!"  Of course, I was saying it with the heaviest sarcasm I could muster.

  I'd love to beat this to the ground. I wonder if his loofa was made in France? Or his falafal?

  Plane Crazy

  by PlaneCrazy on Thu Oct 21, 2004 at 04:16:31 AM PDT

•  Minnesota's senators

  Mark Dayton (D) has refused his. Norm Coleman (R) has already had one.

  by Rupert on Thu Oct 21, 2004 at 04:35:08 AM PDT

•  NO CHARGE?!!!!

  Bastards!!
  Ours cost 90$.  We have a high risk child so the whole family is required to get one (family of four, daughter was free).  Just bastards!

  by No One No Where on Thu Oct 21, 2004 at 04:48:33 AM PDT

•  Big Typo Making the Rounds...

  
   I know that's it's been reported that "Chiron" screwed-the-pooch in making the vaccines and now U.S. citizens are going to have to rely on those way-awful, utterly unsafe Canadian vaccines as well as those cheese-eating-surrender-vaccines from France (pron. "fromage").

   At any rate, I think the British company's real name is:  C-H-A-R-O-N.

   Happy Halloween . . .

   BenGoshi
  ___________

  by BenGoshi on Thu Oct 21, 2004 at 05:00:16 AM PDT

•  I've said it before and I'll say it again

  This issue could sink Bush in Florida, and perhaps elsewhere. People say to me, "He has no real control over it." I say, "Bullshit!" If the government is concerned with public health (which it should be) it should be watching something like this closely and intervening at the first sign of trouble.

  I found it hilarious that in the debate Bush was saying help was on the way from Canada. Also that it's a French company that is supplying the only flu vaccine we're getting.

  You can tell they're scared of this issue. We need to keep hammering at it.

  by gooddognigel on Thu Oct 21, 2004 at 05:00:47 AM PDT

•  I propose

  an LTE campaign.

  Has anyone seen this in the big NEWS engines?

  (I'm looking, now, but I just got to work).

  This is exactly what I hoped would happen. Kerry should get out in front of this, and let the facts (of Dec. Delivery) be damned. JUst say that "Working with the World is a Good thing."

  What's Bush going to do... stun people with the facts? If Bush et al say that "this plan is useless, because the vaccine won't arrive until December..." -- they will only redouble their own admittance of guilt and complicity.

  by Moroccan B on Thu Oct 21, 2004 at 05:56:31 AM PDT

•  What I most admire

  Is that the French were right on top of excactly what you need, while George was hitching himself to that medical device, hopping on his trail bike and screwing the tiny microphone into his ear, while swigging...well, you know: 90 proof forgetfullness

  by Heteraetcaetera on Thu Oct 21, 2004 at 06:05:05 AM PDT

•  You can get a flu shot in some border towns

  
  You should see some of the pieces I've seen on the Canadian news about the vaccine situation.

  Most of them are sorta like this: "Bush doesn't want our prescription meds, but he's happy to come asking for our vaccines." They can barely contain their sarcasm.
  (note they are attacking Bush, not the US in general)

  And then there's the person-on-the-street interviews asking Canadians if we should share our vaccine. most say yes, some say no, some say "Not after the way Bush treated us when we wouldn't join the Iraq war." The general feeling is that people are happy to share it with Americans, but not in a way that makes Bush look good.

  Incidentally, we do have a surplus. I don't know if it's enough to make a huge difference.

  That being said, any of you who are within driving distance might be interested to know that there are some clinics in Canadian border towns who will give the flu shot to Americans. They'll make you pay for it though unless you have dual citizenship. Just do your research and call clinics in your nearest border towns, I don't know which ones will do it and which ones won't. There's definitely one in Fort Erie near Buffalo.

  by Sarkasba on Thu Oct 21, 2004 at 06:31:44 AM PDT

  •  hmm..

    
    Of course it could be that Fort Erie is trying to boost American tourism by offering the vaccine. Your weakening dollar is killing Bingo towns. American bingo lovers are Fort Erie's bread and butter when the exchange rate increases their winnings, unlike right now.

    by Sarkasba on Thu Oct 21, 2004 at 06:39:40 AM PDT

  •  Canadian Health Care

    I have used the BC health care system and all I can say is I hope after Kerry is elected this vaccine shortage opens up the wider discussion of health care delivery in the US.  It is time to stop being herded like sheept with horror stories of "rationed" health care and "socialized medicine."

    (One of) my own story is that I was exposed to HepA in Vancouver roughly a year before HepA occurred in Pennsylvania.  In Vancouver, precisely because, of centralized services and records, the outbreak was identified instantly and the system mobilized to meet the need.  The story was saturated on media.  Teams were sent out to local rec centers to innoculate.  People showed up.  There was a minimum of paperwork.  There was NO eligibility requirement -- the objective being to eliminate the public health concern.  It had become a non-event within 14 days.  

    As a result, there was ONE death of a person who contracted the disease in the initial transmission.  Contrast this with PA where, I believe, there were 15 deaths because the response was left to private providers and patients who may have had to weigh the benefit/cost factors before deciding what to do.  It was a major national news event for more than a month.  I'm willing to believe there are still people who are skiddish about it.

    My capitalist American physician tells me that the best medical research comes out of countries with socialized or centralized medical systems.  I'm aware that there are problems.  What doesn't have some problems?  Meanwhile, all of my experiences and those of my husband have been marked by warmth, caring and stunningly affordable costs.  

    We are FOOLS not to insist that the government not step up and make good, preventive medicine standard practice for ALL!  

    by Rainey on Thu Oct 21, 2004 at 08:26:42 AM PDT

•  Freedom Flu

  Yeah, I'd like to see Congressmen refuse this vaccine in favor of Freedom Flu.

  by EMednick on Thu Oct 21, 2004 at 07:18:42 AM PDT

•  Bush blames the trial lawyers, big surprise

  Of course the standard talking point why the flu vaccine is bad is that it is those gosh darned trial lawyers' fault.  Interesting bit of stats from a poster over at Media Matters.

  I think the Kerry camp should trumpet these numbers (if they are correct) as it casts more doubt on Bush's arguments with regards to capping damages.

  ===========

  re: Conservatives echoed dubious Bush claim that lawsuits are responsible for vaccine shortage

  Here are some interesting tort numbers...

  Tort filings, when controlled for population growth, have declined nationally by 8 percent since 1975

  The numbers are even more dramatic in places with rapid population growth, like Texas, where the rate of tort filings fell 37 percent between 1990 and 2000. Even in liberal California, the rate of filings has plummeted 45 percent over the past decade

  In 2001, juries voted against plaintiffs in 75 percent of all medical malpractice trials, according to the federal government's Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS).

  New data released in April by the Justice Department's BJS show that in state courts, the median "jackpot" jury verdict in all tort suits was a mere $37,000 in 2001--down from $65,000 in 1992.

  The median punitive damage award in 2001 was only $50,000. Only 7 percent of all plaintiffs were awarded $1 million or more.

  by  False Alarm - Tort Reform A Myth  -  Wednesday October 20, 2004 06:54:49 PM EST

  by RedStapler on Thu Oct 21, 2004 at 07:52:55 AM PDT

•  Flu & Capitalism

  Aventis is based in France but it is a multi-national conglomerate. The Bush Administration and the right wing have so bought into their own propaganda that "unfettered capitalism is good" that they can't conceptualize that competitive market places and public health require government intervention and control.

  by Jim S on Thu Oct 21, 2004 at 07:53:47 AM PDT

•  Attack of the Weasel Vaccines

  Shameless self-promotion:

  

  Attack of the Weasel Vaccines

  by Patricio Feuerbach on Thu Oct 21, 2004 at 07:54:54 AM PDT