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U.S. News & World Report (www.usnews.com)
(07/01/02) Vol. 133, No. 1, P. 38; Kelly, Katy
The shortage of tetanus boosters has come to an
end. Chickenpox, measles-mumps-rubella, and diphtheria-acellular
pertussis-tetanus vaccine shortages are expected to be over shortly. National
Immunization Program director Walter Orenstein notes that no disease outbreaks
occurred because of the shortages, and he suggests that children make up their
missed doses. The shortages did highlight how easily the vaccine supply system
can be disrupted. Aventis Pasteur spokesman Len Lavenda indicates that the
process of growing live organisms cannot be substantially speeded up to overcome
production glitches and other suppliers leaving the market. Congress was told
by a panel of medical experts that augmenting vaccine stockpiles and the number
of suppliers could help eliminate shortages in the future. Many potential
suppliers are turned off by limited profit potential and liability issues.
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LEGAL ADVICE. THE DECISION WHETHER OR NOT TO VACCINATE IS AN IMPORTANT AND
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YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER.
"A foolish faith in authority is the worst enemy of truth."
-- Albert Einstein, letter to a friend, 1901
"I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves, and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education."
-- Thomas Jefferson, letter to William C. Jarvis, September 28, 1820
"What's the point of vaccination if it doesn't protect you from the unvaccinated?"
-- Sandy Gottstein
"Who gets to decide what the greater good is and how many will be sacrificed to it?"