Swine Flu Declared A National Emergency-Deaths over 1,000 People
Oct 24th, 2009 | By Mathew Brown | Category: Breaking Health News
With millions infected and over a 1,000 deaths, President Obama has declared the H1N1 flu a National emergency making way for legal waivers to allow hospitals to better handle the surge of new patients.
So far over sixty million people have gotten the flu vaccine this year which far exceeds other years at this point in the season. But more needs to be done at all levels.
“We’ve seen more than 1,000 deaths and 20,000 hospitalizations,” said Dr. Thomas Frieden, head of the CDC. “We expect it to occur in waves, but we can’t predict when those waves will happen.”
With officials expecting more infections and the swine flu now widespread in 46 states, vaccination is more important then ever, especially for the young, the elderly, and other high risk people.
Supplies of the flu vaccine are lower then expected because of production delays as of Wednesday, only 11 million doses had been shipped to health departments, doctor’s offices and other providers.
The Government has hopes to have about 50 million doses of vaccine for the out by mid-November and 150 million in December if all goes according to plan.
The White House went on to say in a statement;
“The foundation of our national approach to the H1N1 flu has been preparedness at all levels — personal, business, and government — and this proclamation helps that effort by advancing our overall response capability,”
and
“The H1N1 is moving rapidly, as expected. By the time regions or healthcare systems recognize they are becoming overburdened, they need to implement disaster plans quickly,”
With the National emergency proclamation, health care providers will be able to request additional resources on a case-by-case basis and relieve some of the pressure by waving certain federal requirements which will help people get the treatment and vaccines they need.
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