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If one person sneezes on the exchange floor twenty people will get sick. Do you want the markets closed for six weeks & crush the economy?
Family friends are burying a son today and 1 has been in ICU with flu after trying for weeks to get shots for 4 sons with CP. Fair?!?!?!?!
Corporations can get in line with their doctor's office like us. Why can't the Gov. filter H1N1 directly to our children's schools instead
Since I don't believe in the flu shot by all means let them get it first. Let them deal with the side effects first!
why should corporations be utilized to distribute the vaccine? Let them schedule an appointment with their doctor if they want it.
I was SO disappointed with this story. My husband is a Citi employee, and he is no more eligible for their stock of H1N1 vaccine than he would be if he went to one of the hospitals offering a clinic. I waited in a long clinic line to have my children vaccinated, just like everyone else. Citi is following procedures, and spreading out the vaccines to multiple clinics simply gives people options about where to go AND keeps lines shorter. Should a pregnant woman at Citi be denied the vaccine just because of where she works? Should a father of a newborn be denied just because he's an executive? This is not a case of corporate suits sitting around and snorting flu-mist that was intended for children. The vaccine is only being offered to high-risk individuals, the SAME as with every other clinic. Will some 40-year old healthy person find a way to sneak in a shot? Maybe. But I'm pretty sure there are other healthy, low-risk individuals who have found a way to get a shot at clinics all over this country. Stop feeding the fear of the vaccine shortage and adding to the hatred of people based simply on where they work.
#1 - Thu Nov 5, 2009 9:28 AM ESTi totally agree with your post. if they are following the rules, there isn't harm in making the vaccine available. its just another place for high risk people to get the vaccine.
My concern is that OB/GYN offices haven't gotten their supply yet. If CITI has 50 employees that are in the very highest risk categories, those doctor offices may have 200. Where are the greatest concentration of high risk patients? As Dr. Nancy said, the companies followed the rules, but are the companies doing the best thing for the country as a whole?
I agree with your post as well. Having corporate America part of the distribution process helps ease the burden of an already overworked medical system. The lines are long at the clinics, hosptials and schools. Why add to that when corporate America can help. Also, why should decent hardworking people that qualify as high risk be penalized for working and be forced to miss possibly a day of work to get the vaccine when they could spend 10 minutes at work to get it? Maybe when corporate America applies for their lot of vaccines they should have to pre-screen the employees and only ask/receive a quantity for those specific employees.
Why should Citi employees be penalized? That's a nice way to completely re-characterize the argument. The question is why does an employee on Wall Street deserve any better treatment than employees of other corporations, small business owners or the unemployed? The answer is - THEY DON'T!! Citi employees can quite acting like they deserve special treatment and get in line with everyone else!
I DISAGREE. I understand part of your point. However, the people who oppose, which is over 90%, do so not because high risk people at these corporations are receiving it (as they should). It's because we have a country of high risk people, all of whom work in large corporations, whom have to wait in line at their doctor's office, not able to get vaccinated. These hard-working people can affect everyone just the same as a WS or Citi worker could. But, when pregnant women, infants, & children are not vaccinated, and a man whom is a corporate executive has access, then yes... it goes beyond, "another place for high risk people to get the vaccine." as stated above.
Nobody has stated that a pregnant woman at Citi should be denied, as implied above. That's not the point, nor would I want that kind of harm inflicted upon her. How difficult is it to understand that the population of "high-risk" people at Lenox Hills Hospital far outnumbers the amount of high-risk employees on WS, Citi, Goldman?
Yet, each corporation is recieving the SAME amount of doses as a hospital? Problem here, folks. This privilege should never have happened. You can't say a pregnant woman at citi has a "status" privilege over a pregnant woman at NBC. You can't privilege one corporation over others... it's going to slap people in the face. And... you cannot justify a male exec of Citi, who is at risk of contaminating his family, getting the vaccine before a pregnant woman, infant or child. Why on earth would HE need to get vaccinated, if we do the right thing, and get his pregnant wife, infant or child the vaccine first--PROBLEM IS NOW SOLVED.
The point here is that the H1N1 is not our normal strain of flu. It has proven to attack those whom are high risk much harder than those who are not... as the H1N1 has proven to be a fight to the death for pregnant, infant, & child Immune Systems VS. a, "I'm really, really sick and feel like Crap", normal, adult healthy Immune System.
Another point is... not only is it wrong to privilege one corporation over others and to give them the same # of vaccines to distribute as a local clinic or hospital, but... how wrong is it to let their Human Resources or top officials in the company determine how to distribute it amongst it's employees over a licensed doctor or hospital?
If I worked at Citi, WS, or Goldman, in the mail room, or as a first-year trader.... you bet I'm gonna feel slighted by the politics that are occuring in those companies right as we speak.
What we need to do is allow the doctor's, hospitals & clinics delegate the distribution as to keep an even playing field. Our government, and these corporations whom received it, are smart enough to know that this H1N1 should not follow the same protocol as it has in that past with the regular flu. If we vaccinate our children's schools, pregnant women, and infants first... then you will see a huge decline of H1N1 penetrating the average population.
Once we vaccinate them, we have no reason to care about the politics of the privileged. I think people are outraged because of the slap in the face. No matter how you spin this, It was wrong. I'm glad it happened, because behavior such as this continues to prove why the moral in our people continues to decline. We all pay taxes (income, sales, etc), and we're tired of being dissappointed in our leaders. What's the point of working so hard so they can live the privileges we can't? I think that's what's going through people's head right now. Justifiably so.
the story was about wall street, however, there are companies all over the the country that are getting or trying to get the vaccine for their high risk employees. i don't care if you are the CEO of a major corporation. if you're high risk, you're high risk and should be able to get the vaccine. i'm sure pregnant women and other high risk people work for these companies. some of them might even let you take your kids to get vaccinated. that means those people aren't standing in lines elsewhere and making the lines longer. if we were only able to depend on our general practioner to get the vaccine, do you realize how long the wait would be?? schools are also giving out the vaccine and i'm sure high risk teachers or employees can get it that way, too. how is that any different?? i understand that there is a grudge against wall street, but those are just everyday people that work there - just like you and me. they can catch the disease just like anyone else and pass it on to you and me.
i'm for whatever is the best way to distribute the vaccine to as many people as possible.
Your all Sheep! Our lives get ruined by wall street greedmongers and all you can say is, "They deserve better treatment, they're better than us"
Baah, Baaah!
My son works on Capital Hill and tells me that the Senate received H1N1 vaccine doses several week ago. They are giving to high risk groups only (hopefully), but I wonder if NBC is as "outraged" about that as they are about Goldman Sacs. Please tell the whole story and let us decide whom we should direct our anger.
#2 - Thu Nov 5, 2009 10:24 AM ESTAs the head of the local Medical Reserve Corps (an all-volunteer nonprofit), I've participated in pandemic influenza planning for years. Dr. Snyderman's reports are usually right on, so I was disappointed she didn't mention that hospitals do not have the capacity to vaccinate large numbers of people and, for that reason, many CHOSE to order only limited quantities of the vaccine.
The Federal government worked hard to encourage employers to create vaccination plans for their employees and the employees' families because this would be the way to get the most people vaccinated in the shortest length of time. It is, of course, the Federal govenrment's responsibility to assure vaccine shipments are allocated according to the numbers of high-risk individuals at each location, whether that location is a business, hospital, local health department, or private medical practice.
In our own area, Georgia's East Metro Health District, we have organized mass vaccination clinics at the public health department locations and plan to shortly hold special vaccination clinics at local high schools as well.
#3 - Thu Nov 5, 2009 10:26 AM ESTSince, this H1n1 is a new type of flu we are dealing with and knowing there is a shortage, there should be some change to these corporate companies in getting the vaccines. Our government should have changed the policy. My 11 year old daughter was not eligble for the vaccine 2 weeks ago but it was too late when they finally changed the criteria of who can get the vaccine because she got the H1N1 this past week. I'm a pharmacst and I can't even get the vaccine because I am not eligible even on the criteria list. Only healthcare workers consider are nurses,Md and EMT. This is wrong.
#4 - Thu Nov 5, 2009 10:34 AM EST.
I So agree with you, Micky T!
Veterans!? What about the children? They are our future! Also, if one person sneezes in an Elementary school, 400 kids get sick. Wall Street needs to be grown ups and wash there hands and stay home if they are sick. Use your brains ppl!
#5 - Thu Nov 5, 2009 10:49 AM ESTI think we are all good enough to stand in line together... I don't care who they are or how much money they make. They are no better than the rest of us who don't even have the shot near us. Does this amount of shots count for the states total? Are other state missing out because this company got them instead? I'm in Maine and my daughter who is at risk has not even had shots made available yet. Her schools systems clinics have been cancelled because they do not have the shot; we are in the southern part of the state were it is wider spread. Will I lose my child to an illness which should have been controlled with the normal flu shot? Can I sue wall street if that happens? This is ridiculous.
#6 - Thu Nov 5, 2009 10:56 AM ESTI have been checking my childs pediatric office website for availability of the shot and they have not received any yet. I live in Seattle, WA and the doctors office also privided a link with estimates on # of doses ordered, by provider type and the county overall has only received approximately 9% of total orders and for Family Practice it is only 8%. This is the county website so I have to trust it right? But this is pretty low and quite frustrating by now! The news should stop touting that there will be enough for all those who need it until it is actually available.
http://www.kingcounty.gov/healthservices/health/preparedness/pandemicflu/swineflu/distribution.aspx
#7 - Thu Nov 5, 2009 11:23 AM ESTI find this to be such a slap in the face to all of us who have already been hurt financially by Wall Street. My daughter-in-law is a pediatrician who spends much of her day explaining to worried parents that she doesn't have the vaccine and doesn't know when she will receive it. I also have 3 beautiful grandchildren that should be vaccinated. This to me is appalling. I have placed calls to my Senators, Representatives and to the Speaker of the House........WAKEUP!!!!!!!
#8 - Thu Nov 5, 2009 11:41 AM ESTMy son is a paramedic who has transported victims of HIN! and neither he, nor his coworkers can get the shot. The county is taking all the vaccine, dispite the fact that these first line medical responders should be higher on the priority list.
#9 - Thu Nov 5, 2009 11:53 AM ESTGoldman Sachs gets 200 doses. They must really be the endangered group with all the stolen billions. See http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/05/swine-flu-vaccine-banks-g_n_346907.html
#10 - Thu Nov 5, 2009 12:05 PM ESTUnbelievable! Yesterday I hear that Citi is doubling interest rates on consumers (citizens who bailed them out and kept their business alive) and today that Wall St firms getting H1N1 vaccine doses! I can't get a H1N1 shot for my 8 month old - my pediatrician (and her son) are actually defering to high risk patients and yet companies are getting them? I am outraged, alarmed, confused and can't understand how doctors offices are being side-lined.
#11 - Thu Nov 5, 2009 12:29 PM ESTI think this is disgraceful; you have kids and pregnant women who are at high risk. I am a nurse, and because I only work part-time, I have been unable to get the vaccine from my employer. Go figure that. These firms are behaving selfishly and without concern for the high risk population. Shame on them!
#12 - Thu Nov 5, 2009 2:58 PM ESTI say we give Wall Street what they really deserve, not a vaccine, a firing squad.
#13 - Thu Nov 5, 2009 3:36 PM ESTThey don't deserve the mercy of a firing squad. Group them in with their buddies in government. There are plenty of lamp posts in DC to hang them all from.
I would love to blame WS, but really... it's our government that spoon feeds them. They wine like little babies and get what they want. I would never expect them to donate the unused vaccines after they distribute them to the high-risk employees. Are you kidding... there's more money to be made, interest rates to hike, and people to screw! Why, with all the scheming yet to be done, they don't have time to get sick!
#14 - Thu Nov 5, 2009 4:34 PM ESTNo. What is the rationale for prioritizing Wall Street employees? It's not like these people are pregnant. Actually they knocked up the public, not themselves.
#15 - Thu Nov 5, 2009 5:29 PM ESTMy son has a blood disorder and he is not eligible for the H1N1 shot. There is no reason for the corporate big wigs to get a vaccine ahead of people who really need it. While I waited in line at my doctor's office to get my young daughters vaccinated a very sick woman pleaded with them to let her get the shot because she was suffering from breast cancer! Sadly they told her no she did not qualify. I think about that woman everyday and I pray that she is able to get a vaccine.
#16 - Mon Nov 9, 2009 6:09 PM ESTYou're in Easy Mode. If you prefer, you can use XHTML Mode instead. |
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Not fair! What about my 5yr old who has such severe allergies/asthma that he struggles and gasps for breath after a mild cold. Needs shot