# 2038
The Federal Times is a well-respected source of information focused on issues of concern to senior government managers.
Over the weekend they ran an opinion piece by Dr. Ned Feder, formerly of the NIH (National Institute of Health) and now a spokesperson for POGO (Project On Government Oversight), on the need for more transparency in our Federal Vaccine Program.
Commentary: Pandemic flu vaccine program needs help
By NED FEDER
June 01, 2008
A government document — never released — presents a troubling picture of a vaccine shortage during an influenza pandemic: Overall, about 2 percent of Americans with influenza illness die. Hospitals are overwhelmed. People riot at some vaccination clinics as they are turned away or supplies run out. Trucks transporting vaccine are hijacked. Public anxiety heightens mistrust of government. Mortuaries and funeral homes are overwhelmed. The majority of people still have not been vaccinated when a second wave of influenza begins.
These descriptions come from an October 2006 New York Times article by Gardiner Harris, who obtained the government document. The document was never released to the public as originally planned. Its portrayal of public chaos and a heightened mistrust of government is a reminder of past blunders — and this may have hit too close to home.
Are these scenes an accurate forecast of a disaster that lies ahead? Or, instead, will the federal government be ready with enough vaccine when a pandemic strikes? The government has announced its plans, and they are not reassuring. The official word is that it will be several years before government-funded vaccine manufacturers are fully ready to produce vaccine. Even then, there won’t be enough vaccine for everyone until six months after the start of a pandemic.
The government’s pandemic flu vaccine program is a fairly good one, with scientists who are among the best in vaccine research and production. But the program has an obvious and easily corrected weakness: lack of transparency.
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