H1N1 vaccine shortage stings politically

WASHINGTON, Oct. 29 (UPI) -- Shortages of H1N1 virus vaccine in the United States have raised questions about President Obama's administration's response to the pandemic, observers said.

As officials at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta report that H1N1, formerly called swine flu, is widespread in 46 states, public health experts and leading senators are giving the government mixed reviews for its response, The New York Times said Thursday.

"I would give them a B for performance so far," said Dr. Eric Toner, a senior associate at the Center for Biosecurity at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

As the number of promised doses was reduced because of delays in the manufacturing process, the grumbling began, the Times said. Most of the criticism has been directed toward Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

"The fact that there are vaccine shortages is a huge problem," said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who co-led a meeting last week on the situation with Sen. Joe Lieberman, Ind-Conn. "I believe the administration took the pandemic seriously, but I also believe administration officials were so determined to show that everything was under control that they sent the wrong signals about the adequacy of supplies of the vaccine."

If vaccine production picks up, and the shots reach the public in a timely manner, Obama likely won't catch flak personally, observers told the Times.

"Where people start holding political actors accountable is when they develop an expectation for what is to happen," said Robert Blendon, professor of health policy and political analysis at the Harvard School of Public Health. "If very few people get sick and those who do are not very seriously ill, the public will have a much higher tolerance than if there are people who are dying."