(R-Maine)
There is no question that federal, state, and local public health officials need to take the H1N1 flu seriously. The virus spreads easily and quickly. Recently, Bates College in Lewiston made national news when the number of H1N1 flu cases on its campus jumped from six to 160 in less than a week. Eventually, more than 250 students became infected. To help stop the spread of the flu, the Director for the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention called in help to administer more than 1,000 H1N1 vaccines on campus.
Recently, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee held an oversight hearing in our ongoing effort to assess the effectiveness of efforts to respond to this pandemic, which appears to strike pregnant women, children, and young people with particular ferocity.
As we did during a similar hearing earlier this year, we asked several important questions. What has the federal government done so far to protect the American people? How are these plans working? Have we encountered any unanticipated problems? Our committee heard testimony from Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano who testified on their departments’ work in coordinating resources across the federal government and in assisting state and local governments in their response to the H1N1 virus. We also heard from Education Secretary Arne Duncan who told us that as a result of Department of Education guidance to close schools only as a last resort, to date, far fewer schools have closed this fall than did so last spring.
Government officials and public health experts are learning as they go along, sometimes with surprising results that run counter to their earlier assumptions about H1N1. For example, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has released a report that found that 46 percent of 1,400 adults hospitalized with H1N1 were healthy and did not have chronic illness before they got sick with the flu. While this was a preliminary analysis, the new report paints a different picture than previous studies, which had concluded that the vast majority of H1N1 patients who became severely ill had chronic or other underlying health conditions. New data like this report must constantly be taken into account as we handle our nation’s pandemic flu.
It’s clear that much work has gone into preparing for this outbreak. Our country has mobilized as government officials at all levels, doctors and other health care professionals, non-profit organizations and private businesses have devoted significant time and resources to tackling the many challenges posed by this virus.
The Post Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006, written by our Committee, mandated comprehensive and coordinated disaster planning to improve our preparedness for both man-made and naturally occurring catastrophes like this pandemic. In addition, Congress has allocated nearly $9 billion to HHS alone over the past five years for pandemic preparedness. These efforts laid the foundation for the strong response we have seen to date.
Nonetheless, while the government and private sector have accomplished a great deal, significant concerns remain.
For example, despite the assurances of federal officials, millions of Americans still are worried about the safety of the H1N1 vaccine. They want to know if it’s safe to give to their children, what kind of testing was done, and whether it contains any dangerous additives. The state CDC in Maine reports many calls from citizens asking these questions. During our hearing, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius testified that the H1N1 flu vaccine has been tested in clinical trials and that it is as safe for children and adults as the seasonal flu vaccine.
State officials also remain concerned about whether there will be a sufficient number of doses of the vaccine. For example, in the next eight weeks, Maine is scheduled to receive only 340,000 doses of the vaccine. This falls short of the amount needed to vaccinate everyone in the priority groups that the CDC has identified.
The CDC has been telling us since the summer that the federal government would have a sufficient supply of H1N1 vaccine to meet the demand; CDC also said that 40 million doses would be available by the end of October. It now appears production delays will result in just 28-30 million doses being available — 25 percent fewer than had been projected. Furthermore, a recent Purdue University study reported that the H1N1 vaccine may actually arrive too late to help most Americans who will be infected with this strain this flu season. I questioned Secretary Sebelius about this report and specifically asked her about the steps CDC was taking to address the timing issues associated with the delivery of the H1N1 vaccine.
Another significant concern is whether or not our nation’s emergency rooms have sufficient capacity to cope with a massive influx of sick patients if the pandemic worsens.
These are serious concerns. It is important that federal officials continue to monitor the response to H1N1 across the nation and help ensure that any gaps in preparedness are quickly addressed. Staying a step ahead of the spread of this virus will be critical to preventing illness and responding effectively.
