Bush’s health chief says don’t fear flu shot shortage

Thursday, Oct. 21, 2004 | 9:53 a.m.

Tommy Thompson, President Bush's secretary of health and human services, told Las Vegas residents Wednesday not to worry about the nationwide flu shot shortage "All I'm telling you is just be patient, and work with us, and we'll take care of it," Thompson told more than 100 Bush supporters during a townhall-style meeting Wednesday at the Clark County Library's Jewel Box Theater on Flamingo Road.

Thompson reiterated the need to reserve the shots for seniors and those with chronic diseases, noting that of the 36,000 who died from the flu in 2003, 91 percent were over 65.

But he also said seniors do not need to wait in long lines to receive the shots.

The Bush administration is working with the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to set up a toll-free hotline for those in the highest risk groups to call in and place their names on a priority list for the vaccine, Thompson said.

The federal government will use that list to distribute the 24 million doses it has of the vaccine to the most at-risk individuals nationwide, Thompson said, and later to distribute the 2 million to 3 million more doses each week for the next seven weeks Aventis has promised to deliver.

With another 2.6 million doses to come in January and the vaccine already in circulation, about 58 million Americans will be inoculated against the disease, Thompson said.

The Bush administration is also working to secure up to 40 million doses of the antiviral medications Tamiflu and rimantadine that can significantly reduce the duration and effects of the flu, Thompson said. There are currently 7 million doses available.

The antiviral medications must be prescribed by a doctor, but it is safe for all adults, said Brian Labus, senior epidemiologist for the Clark County Health District.

The CDC is recommending the medication for health care providers at the first sign of exposure to the flu to prevent them from catching and spreading the disease, Labus said. If taken during the first 48 hours, it also effectively reduces the impact of the disease on those in the highest risk groups, he said.

The Health District did not receive any of the 35,000 doses it had ordered from Chiron, the company shut down by British regulators after some dosages were contaminated, said spokesman David Tonelli. The district worked with other entities and private companies to distribute about 15,000 doses available in the community to clinics and health care providers that serve the most high-risk patients.

The Health District believes it will receive more doses, but it does not know when or how much, Tonelli said. There have been no local cases of the flu this year.

Thompson's campaign stop was criticized in advance by the Nevada Democratic Party for attempting to mislead Nevadans about the seriousness of the flu shot shortage, which Democrats have been calling a major health crisis.

"He knows George W. Bush could have prevented it," Jon Summers, communications directors for the Nevada Democratic Party, said. "The Bush admnistration was warned time and again of the need to take action to avert a disastrous vaccine shortage."

Thompson, however, blamed Democrats for not doing anything during President Clinton's administration and said John Kerry and John Edwards were trying to scare Americans.

Thompson said that 10 years ago there were 10 companies producing the vaccine for Americans but that worries over medical liability, the high costs of producing the vaccine and uncertainty over how many doses to produce made it difficult for companies to continue production.

Under Bush, the Health and Human Services Department has asked Congress for $100 million toward modernizing the production process for the vaccine, Thompson said, which he hopes will lead more companies to produce the shots.

Thompson said the president has increased more than sevenfold the nation's investment in efforts to prevent and control the flu since he took office -- from $39.3 million in 2001 to $283.1 million proposed for fiscal year 2005.

Thompson spent most of his speech preaching to the pro-Question 3 audience in the packed theater about the need for medical liability reform. He also answered questions about importing drugs from Canada and what Bush is doing to help small businesses offer health care.

Thompson had flown to Las Vegas from Florida for the event, and the rainy weather made him late, his aides said. He took only five questions from the pro-Bush crowd before leaving.