Curmudgeon's Corner
cur-mud-geon: anyone who hates hypocrisy and pretense and has the temerity to say so; anyone with the habit of pointing out unpleasant facts in an engaging and humorous manner
H1N1 - Where's The Vaccine?
Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of HHS proclaims that there will be more than enough doses of H1N1 vaccine in time to thwart the "Swine Flu" threat. She goes further to say that the U.S. will share its vaccine with other countries.
Then, we see the pictures of all the people standing in line and learn that there is not sufficient vaccine available, and that we are in the midst of the greatest threat and that our government has failed to deliver what it promised.
We see the ever-changing landscape of who should have the vaccine and who should step to the back of the line since there isn't enough to go around. I've lost track of the latest version of 'who gets it'.
There were to be 120 million doses at first. That eroded to something in the range of 40 million doses. And then that further eroded to 30 million doses. Only about 15 million doses have been delivered so far. People are talking about where they might go to get their vaccine; I hear conversations in many places where people congregate. They are concerned for their children, for their aged parents, for themselves. They are wondering if H1N1 is as bad as it is supposed to be. They wonder where the next victim's death will occur.
There is growing concern about when and where the vaccine will be available, and rightfully so since the government has proved once again that it can't always be trusted to do what it says it will do.
Against this current backdrop of health care shortfalls, the debate over government-run health care continues in Washington.
What makes us think that will be any different than the H1N1 saga? Why should we believe the politicians this time? What is it about this time that will make the difference? Will the country be able to afford this "fix"? If so, will the "fix" work as promised? Who will be the new "haves" and who will be the new "have nots"? We know there will be those classes as surely as the sun rises.
If "they" can't get this right, where will that leave us in the world of government-run health care?
Betwixt and between the proverbial rock and hard place?
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The Curmudgeon Blog today is titled "Global Climate Treaty?".
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