Flu shot shortage could sway votes in Florida

[PSU84]

Oct. 28, 2004

Flu shot shortage could sway votes in Florida

JILL BARTON, Associated Press

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Catherine Howar's 11-month-old grandson will only get one of the two flu shots toddlers need, and she blames that on President Bush. The vaccine shortage alone isn't enough to sway her vote. But she says when considering Bush's other failings, she's decided to cast a vote for Sen. John Kerry instead.

More than half of the many Americans with a family member at high risk of getting the flu say they're worried about the vaccine shortage, according to an Associated Press poll. The short supply was announced earlier this month when British regulators closed one of the two companies that make the vaccine for the United States, citing contamination problems. That nearly cut in half the 100 million doses U.S. officials were expecting.

Each year, the flu is blamed for about 36,000 deaths and sends another 200,000 Americans to the hospital. Federal authorities have asked healthy adults to skip their shot this year to leave more for those at greatest risk: the very young, the very old and people with chronic illnesses. In Florida, where the votes of the elderly are crucial, Democrats are trying to capitalize on the vaccine shortage. In a radio ad broadcast only in this state, a narrator asks: "If (the Bush administration) can't deal with the flu vaccine, how are they going to deal with bio-terror vaccines?"

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/state/10039380.htm