The "October Surprise" that will cost Bush reelection..

The lack of flu shots.

My wife, who is now pregnant, went for a flu shot today at Public, after being unable to get any from her doctors. I mention her pregnancy because it is well known that the flu shots will be only given to those 65+, under 16 months, pregnant or with severe conditions.

They were to start at 3pm, she got there at 2pm.
They had 225 flu shots, 3 thousand people showed up, all of which qualified in the above terms.

She was one of the last 15 people to get a shot, and got home at 9pm.

She said that many people in the crowd were talking, and are voting against Bush because of this. They naturally are mad that there are not shots, and that we do not make flu vaccines here in the USA. They blame Bush.

This problem is going to get worse. My wife's mom is a nurse administrator in Florida, and says that she has been trying to get flu shots for the most serious in her hospital, with no luck... she say the state of Florida is OUT.

This is bad for Bush, because many will blame him for this (wrongly, but still)... this also attacks part of his base. Many of those around my wife in line for those 7 hours were elderly vets.

My gut is telling me the lack of flu vaccines will cost Bush Florida..... and most likely the election.

ps - If you really need a flu shot... better do what it takes to get one quick. riots are already occuring. I have seen footage at work. Price gouging is getting severe too.

Though my personal opinion is, the flu isnt that bad, and I dont understand why people are freaking out over this subject.. I have never taken a flu shot and rarely get sick

[edit on 10/16/2004 by QuietSoul]

America really needs a nationalized healthcare system.... and i can't believe getting labelled a "liberal" (socialist) is a bad thing in the US, because a "liberal" would of made sure it was available to the masses at a heavily subsidised cost.

liberal = caring for the people
conservative = caring for themselves

thanks,
drfunk

QuietSoul: I can see your point. I too think a lot of old people get flu shots, and lots of old people are in FL. Kerry just hasn't done a good job of spinning this, yet. Bush however did a decent job of explaining the situation to the public, and did it during the debtate with lots of people watching. He also took it one step further and tied it into tort reform.

I too have never gotten a flu shot. Last season, if I'm not mistaken, the flu vaccine didn't help against the strain of flu that went around, it was practically useless. I don't understand the panic either.

How can you pin this on Bush though? The company that screwed it up isnt even in the US. Had he let the contaminated vaccine be distributed, it surely would have been his fault, and you would be all over him for that. There is just no pleasing some I guess.

Originally posted by drfunk
America really needs a nationalized healthcare system.... and i can't believe getting labelled a "liberal" (socialist) is a bad thing in the US, because a "liberal" would of made sure it was available to the masses at a heavily subsidised cost.

liberal = caring for the people
conservative = caring for themselves

thanks,
drfunk

While this is not the topic, I will say that your assessment of conservatives is straight bull#. You should know that there is as likely a chance of something like this happening regardless of our medical system.

But then again, we don't have the best medical care in the world for nothing.

I too have never even considered taking a flu shot. Its my belief that such things actually end up making your immune system weaker in the long run.

You are probably right. People will blame Bush for this when it actually has been caused by American companies being pushed out of the flu shot manufacturing market. Why has this happened? Why don't American companies make flu shots? Hmmmm?

We may not have had to rely on a foreign source for the flu shots in the first place had not the Clintons in their grand wisdom not begun a government program to subsidize and cap prices on immunisations in the nineties. Now the few manufacturers that do provide them here in the US have to take a loss, in a lot of cases, and then worry about lawsuits (thank you John Edwards and the like) if the shot they provide has an adverse effect. Many have stopped production or moved overseas, thanks to Hillary Clinton and her proposal, that got passed overwhelmingly. Just one example of the downfall of government subsidized programs.

This is just another example where people are quick to blame President Bush w/o knowing the facts. The fact of the matter is taht the English company that produces and distributes the flu vaccine would not send normal amounts to the US this year. That is not Bush's fault. I find it hillarious that EVERYONE is quick to blame the president, but when he does something right, everyone is hush-hush about it.

IT IS NOT PRESIDENT BUSH'S FAULT THAT WE HAVE A SHORTAGE OF FLU VACCINE, NO MATTER HOW THE LIBERALLY BIASED MEDIA TRIES TO SPIN IT.

And with the whole october surprise, i think Kerry GAVE Bush a little october boost when he talked about cheney's daughter being a lesbian during the last debate. I believe two polls, REUTERS and one other (sorry can't remember i saw it late last night on TV) have President Bush opening up a 4-5% edge on Kerry.

[edit on 16-10-2004 by Kwintz]

Blame this on Bush?


Geezzzzzz


Well I have never taken one, I smoke and look forward to my next round with the flu as then I can quit, If you get a good 3 day case its like a superpatch!

Just out of curiosity, what is the rest of the world doing? Are we the only country having a shortage? Is the vacine available elsewhere in the world? Can anyone put some perspective on this?

Also, for those of you who don't understand the panic, the flu can be fatal to people in the high risk group (who are the only ones allowed to get it). Unfortuantely, we do not even seem to have enough for all of them. Here is a link to an article from 2003 where a study found the numbers of annual flu deaths are higher than previously thought.

www.findarticles.com...


I also heard somewhere yesterday, that there would be legal action taken against health care providers who give the flu shot out to anyone other than the designated groups. This is becoming a very serious situation.

I don't see how they can pin this on Bush - but I wouldn't be surprised if they do. It's a political season.

Nor do I see how socialized medicine would solve this problem.

Theres always someone to blame when theres a President.

I'm one of the most rabid Anti-Bush loudmouths on the board.

I still can't see a way to stick this one on the president. I mean, I'm sure there is a way, but I don't think we should be reaching for that here.

I'm young, and in good health. I've never ever ever ever had a flu shot, and I've had the flu an equal number of times. Frankly, I don't need one, and someone who feels they need mine can have it with my compliments.

Still trying to figure out why this situation seems to only be a crisis in the US, but another thought just occurred to me.

If we are only capable of innoculating half the people we usually do, doesn't that increase by 50% the number of people who will be out there spreading it? Think about that one - UGH! Seems by default the shortage could make this flu season a particularly bad one.

remember though, this is for influenza, it's not what most of us tend to call the flu. There are some high risk groups that could use the shot but I don't remember last year seeing any problems with the nearly useless vaccine that was being used. Politically speaking, Kerry could get off a few cheap shots over this before the election and long before flu season. But I don't think he thinks people will buy it so he hasn't said anything. Whereas I do think Bush put some good spin on this regarding legal reform - which is, imho, a problem and which may be indirectly responsible for this vaccine problem and hopefully will be part of his 2nd term.

Yes, but the people spreading it will only be able to spread it to each other, and then hopefully we'll have more vaccine next year to halt the next 'wave' of this 'deadly virus' 'silent killer' '48 hour death warrant' or whatever the hell the press trumps this crap up to be.

Here's how my family deals with the flu.

1. Get some theraflu and vapor rub.
2. Go to bed.
3. 4-8 hrs later, check on person, and if problems persist, repeat steps 1&2. Easy. problem solved without all the drama.

The flu isn't that serious unless we let it become that serious, people. If sick people just take some resposibility for themselves, then this wouldn't be a problem. I've had the flu in the same house as me, and yet I've never had it. We don't need bio-lockdowns and mass innoculations. We need some common sense.

Originally posted by Loki
Here's how my family deals with the flu.

1. Get some theraflu and vapor rub.
2. Go to bed.
3. 4-8 hrs later, check on person, and if problems persist, repeat steps 1&2. Easy. problem solved without all the drama.

The flu isn't that serious unless we let it become that serious, people. If sick people just take some resposibility for themselves, then this wouldn't be a problem.

Well, you just hit the nail on the head - if sick people take some responsibility for themselves. BUT THEY DON'T! Most of them think they should fight it & head off to work, cause they can't afford to lose the days wage or think the workplace can't live without them.

Worse yet, they have foolish bosses who don't understand that demanding an employee stay home when sick, costs them less than the person coming in and infecting everyone else. (I have seen bosses demand that ill employees get in and tough it out.)

No worse yet, the parents who just don't have a last minute option/support system in place for when their kids are sick and they can't afford to stay home with them. So they send the kids to school, risking dozens of children catching it and spreading it back to other families. (I am not blaming the parents here - I think it stinks that there are so many who are in that boat.)

So yes Loki, you are right in a perfect world, it should be no big deal, but unfortunately in reality........

I guess I just grew up in a different world...where I didn't have concerns like that.

If I needed to come home/not go to school, I knew enough to keep things held down until Ma came home.

My mother was always responsible about keeping her sick days for when she was really sick. In a way, my mother is the smartest person I know. She's really sensible in alot of ways.

I know that this isn't how it always works, but I don't like this social unconcern for one's own actions. People always have someone else to blame when the # hits the fan, though.

Why is Bush being blamed? Well, first because he is the president, it has nothing to do with liberal media, which it isn't, unless you a republican like Ann Coulter, then everything is, including your cat. BTW, how is it liberal? because they tell the truth? Guess that makes Fox News Ultra-Conservative. Wait, they are! Owned by a registered republican, ran by a registered republican who is known as the "Dark Prince" By the republicans, who's first thing he did was fire everyone not a registered republican, then hier more registerd republicans like Hannity, Bill, Brit Hume, so forth.

Also, Bush is blamed because he passes laws to make getting drugs from Canada illeagal for "terrorists" might contaminate it. Then the drugs from England get contaminated, and so he orders the shots, FROM CANADA! TALK ABOUT FLIP_FREAKING_FLOP! Only people who had scrubbing bubbles or downy used on their brains think this is not Bush's fault. It really isn't, but it's the fact first he bans, makes it a federal crime to get drugs from Canada, then orders drugs from Canada.

Without getting into the political spin, I said that if flu kills so many people in the US every year and is a malady that affects us several times in life, I think that flu shots should be keep and monitor in our health care system, just like vaccination for children that are needed and necessary and are available in our local public health care clinics they should make flu shots part of that, privatization of the vaccine should be illegal.

For the first time in 25 years my husband is not going to get his flu vaccine and he wonders how the military are going to manage the shortage after all is given yearly to military personnel worldwide.

In my case, I had the vaccine 2 times in my life time and only 3 times I had the actual symptoms.

My daughter gets it yearly, and now she is afraid that being in a big university and with so many students around is going to be a full blown epidemic this year.

I don�t blame bush but I blame the system for not making the vaccine part of the CDC.

We should keep it local.