- Reaction score
- 1,697
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama declared the swine flu outbreak a national emergency, giving his health chief the power to let hospitals move emergency rooms offsite to speed treatment and protect noninfected patients.
The declaration, signed Friday night and announced Saturday, comes with the disease more prevalent than ever in the country and production delays undercutting the government's initial, optimistic estimates that as many as 120 million doses of the vaccine could be available by mid-October.
Health authorities say more than 1,000 people in the United States, including almost 100 children, have died from the flu, known as H1N1, and 46 states have widespread flu activity. So far only 11 million doses have gone out to health departments, doctor's offices and other providers, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials.
Administration officials said the declaration was a pre-emptive move designed to make decisions easier when they need to be made. Officials said the move was not in response to any single development
More http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091024/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama_swine_flu.
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I know of nobody with Swine flu at this time. Seems like the vaccine makers and the Tamiflu people are really cashing in on this stuff.... From what I hear it takes about a month for them to find out if a flu is the swine flu but doctors prescribe the swine stuff for any flu just in case. Whateva!
The declaration, signed Friday night and announced Saturday, comes with the disease more prevalent than ever in the country and production delays undercutting the government's initial, optimistic estimates that as many as 120 million doses of the vaccine could be available by mid-October.
Health authorities say more than 1,000 people in the United States, including almost 100 children, have died from the flu, known as H1N1, and 46 states have widespread flu activity. So far only 11 million doses have gone out to health departments, doctor's offices and other providers, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials.
Administration officials said the declaration was a pre-emptive move designed to make decisions easier when they need to be made. Officials said the move was not in response to any single development
More http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091024/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama_swine_flu.
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I know of nobody with Swine flu at this time. Seems like the vaccine makers and the Tamiflu people are really cashing in on this stuff.... From what I hear it takes about a month for them to find out if a flu is the swine flu but doctors prescribe the swine stuff for any flu just in case. Whateva!