Do we want a vaccine or don’t we?

Regardless of what I think of the government’s H1N1 vaccination program, I can’t help but feel a little sorry for Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq. Trying to meet the demands of a fickle and seemingly schizophrenic public can only be frustrating.
When the initial panic over “swine” flu erupted earlier this year, governments couldn’t get a vaccine into people’s veins fast enough. In fact, shame on them for not having developed one already!
But as our elected representatives retreated to their science caves to cook up a vaccine, heads began to cool and things started coming into perspective. The first round of infections left people unimpressed by the flu’s might. Natural suspicion crept in.
Suddenly, the government was seen as rushing through a vaccine that hadn’t been properly tested and that nobody wanted. But the dire prediction of a second, more powerful pandemic loomed on the horizon, and besides, the ball was already in motion. A vaccine would come out in time. But would there be anyone in line to get it?
As the vaccine neared completion, those warnings of a second pandemic bubbled once more to the surface. Seasonal illnesses started taking on a more sinister light. Friday’s Free Press reported that hospitalizations for severe respiratory illness had “surge[d]” to 20 since Oct. 8! Keep in mind these aren’t confirmed H1N1 cases.
Those same parents who swore they would never inject their children with some untested poison were the first in line to get the vaccine, destroying any credibility the government’s priority list might have had.
Now there are mutterings that Aglukkaq may be fired over the vaccine shortage fiasco, but I think this might be a case where the government should fire the voters. It was the public (helped along by a frenzied media and epidemiologists) who demanded the vaccine in the first place, and who then rushed to get it before anyone who might actually have needed it.
If I voted Conservative I might almost be upset.