U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) today made the following statement regarding the nation’s flu outbreak and the need for a national vaccine strategy:
“More than 24 states are reporting widespread outbreaks of the flu, including my home state of Tennessee, where schools have been forced to close because so many students have contracted the virus. The CDC and other state and national health organizations are taking appropriate steps to manage the situation and find short-term relief from the outbreak. However, a long-term plan is needed to properly equip our nation against vaccine shortages like we’re seeing today.
“There are a number of varying factors related to the shortage – too few vaccine manufacturers in large part due to costly and unnecessary lawsuits coupled with uncertain market conditions; lack of a coordinated strategy to safeguard against a flu pandemic; reliance on older technologies that slow vaccine production; public complacency about the importance of immunizations; and the caginess of the flu virus itself.
“I introduced legislation earlier this year to help us develop a national vaccine strategy and contingency plan so that we are more equipped to prevent outbreaks and to appropriately respond to serious outbreaks. The current situation demands that the nation take more aggressive steps to improve our vaccine supply and guard against vaccine shortages in the future.”