PEDIATRICS Vol. 94 No. 3 September 1994, pp. 399
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow P3Rs: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when P3Rs are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow E-mail this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My File Cabinet
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by L., J. F.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by L., J. F.

GANG THAT COULDN'T GIVE SHOTS STRAIGHT

J. F. L. MD

There has not been a social program in recent history so badly flawed as Vaccine for Children. The administration's initiative is based on misleading information about immunization levels in the US. It is determined to create an entitlement even though immunization rates are at record levels. At a time when local health officials have more free vaccine than they can use, it is spending money to set up a government-run delivery service of unknown cost and questionable utility. Ignoring calls to delay the program, the administration has arrogantly dug in its heels to carry out a campaign pledge.

Congress assumed and the administration said that private vaccine companies would distribute the government-supplied vaccine. But the price controls the government imposed on vaccines to meet the [Congressional Budget Office] estimate left no margin for paying delivery costs. Therefore, the Department of Health and Human Services decided to set up its own distribution system. The rush to fulfill a campaign pledge now threatens to compromise the nation's vaccine supply.

First, HHS wanted the Veterans Administration and the Defense Department to operate a vaccine depot system for the program. The offer was rejected: Both agencies were getting out of the vaccine and medical distribution business; two government studies showed that private companies distributed health care products more cheaply and efficiently.

Worst of all, the administration is diverting funds to the warehousing scheme at a time when public health officials insist they have plenty of free vaccine. State and local health officials such as F. E. Thompson of the Mississippi State Department of Health note: "We have enough vaccine... What we do not have enough of is nurses to give it, clerical staff to track the children, and outreach workers to bring them."