November 3, 2005: NORTON SAYS NEW FLU VACCINE CONCERNS SHOW CONTINUING PROBLEMS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 3, 2005

NORTON SAYS NEW FLU VACCINE CONCERNS SHOW CONTINUING PROBLEMS

Washington, DC—Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), who earlier got a flu shot in the House health unit after having staff check to make sure there were no shortages, today said that she was “astonished and exasperated” to learn that seniors and others in need in the region are having difficulty finding the vaccine. Norton has asked District health officials to investigate whether there is now a shortage in the city or whether one could develop.

Even though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says enough flu shots are expected, Norton said that shortages in the region and in other parts of the country “at an early time in the flu season show very substantial glitches that should have been foreseen.” There is an early indication, she said, that “a new problem has now opened up, this time in the nation’s distribution and supply system of the vaccine.” Norton will insist on answers at a hearing focusing on national preparedness and the response to avian flu before the Government Reform Committee at 10 AM tomorrow in Room 2154 of the Rayburn House Office Building.

A year ago, Norton complained about the policy of giving flu shots to members of Congress and staff regardless of risk as the elderly, people with chronic diseases and others in the high risk categories were scrambling for immunizations. She subsequently got the Attending Physician of the Capitol to donate thousands of flu shots to the District.