With President Obama's visit to New Orleans to see the lingering damage from Hurricane Katrina, one must ponder - will the H1N1 be this administration's "Katrina"? News is the number of both seasonal flu and swine flu vaccines distributed is lagging in most states, with only a few thousand doses shipping in to Texas, with over 24 million residents. Take Dallas County, the ninth most populous county in the United States:
Dallas County , with 10 confirmed deaths from the virus, received its second shipment of vaccine: 700 doses, including injectable vaccine. Department officials have not said how they plan to distribute this shipment. They used the first 700 doses they received two weeks ago on health care workers, including first responders and public school nurses. Dallas County has a population of almost 2.5 million. At the rate of 700 doses a week it will take 68years to inoculate the county's population for H1N1.
In Florida, plans are being made to ban some H1N1 patients from hospitals.
In New York the mayor is suggesting patients be quarantined in E.Rs.
In Katrina 1,836 people lost their lives in the actual hurricane and in the subsequent floods, making it the deadliest U.S. hurricane since the 1928 Okeechobee hurricane. At the rate the Obama administration is getting out vaccine the H1N1 deaths may well out strip this natural disaster.
Anyone up to rereading Stephen King's "The Stand"?
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