A member of the Appropriations Health Subcommittee, Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA-34) participated in a subcommittee briefing about the H1N1 Influenza Pandemic.  During the briefing, the panel heard testimony and asked questions of public health leaders at the center of the HINI response, including Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

To watch excerpts from the hearing, please see Videos on this web site. 

The congresswoman asked Dr. Frieden about vaccine shortages in Los Angeles and throughout the country. 

“We are seeing in the news media the daily pictures of people standing in long lines for hours trying to get vaccinated, only to be turned away as limited vaccine supplies run out,” Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard said to the panel during the briefing.  “In Los Angeles County about 5.5 million people fall into priority categories for getting vaccinated, but only about 50,000 people were vaccinated in the first week after the county clinic opened, and many were turned away because vaccine supplies ran short   Public health experts have repeatedly told us that once people are turned away, it is hard to get them to come back to be vaccinated.  Have the early supply shortages seriously damaged the goal of vaccinating all Americans?  Where do you think the point of balance is between your public messaging intended to raise public awareness about the dangers of H1N1, which raises demand for the vaccine, and the current limited supply of vaccine?” 

Dr. Frieden agreed with the congresswoman that it’s hard to get people back to be vaccinated once they’ve been turned away. 

“As you point out, any time someone comes to a doctor’s office or goes to a vaccination site and there is not vaccine available, the likelihood that they return to that site is less than we wish it would be and that is why we’re so frustrated to not have the amount of vaccine available when people want to get vaccinated,” Dr. Frieden said.  “Our goal has always been that vaccine should be available to anyone who wants to be vaccinated starting with the priority groups, understanding that many people will choose not to be vaccinated and that is their choice.  There is no mandatory vaccination as part of this.  We’re currently at 32.3 million doses available for ordering and distribution. It is not nearly where we would like it to be … But absolutely, the fact that there is not vaccine currently in providers’ offices when people want to get vaccinated means that some of those people who want to get vaccinated and would benefit from it, in all likelihood unfortunately will not get vaccinated in the future,” Dr. Frieden concluded.

According to the CDC, the HINI vaccine will become more widely available in December.  The CDC is recommending that individuals in high risk categories get vaccinated at the earliest time possible.  This category includes: pregnant women; people who live with or care for children younger than six months of age; health care and emergency medical services personnel; persons between the ages of 6 months to 24 years; and persons ages 25 to 64 years of age who have chronic health disorders or compromised immune systems.  For more information about the HINI flu, please visit www.flu.gov