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American Morning

Some Parents Being Told They'll Have to Wait for Child's Shots Because of a Shortage

Aired December 04, 2001 - 09:05   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Earlier this morning, we also spoke to homeland security director Tom Ridge about the latest security alert issued by the federal government.

CNN's Eileen O'Connor now joins us from Washington with more on exactly what this alert means.

Good morning, Eileen.

EILEEN O'CONNOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.

Well, the U.S. government says that it does not mean that people should panic. As you know, law enforcement officials say they've been on a heightened state of alert since the September 11th attacks. They have been checking cars and vehicles, going in and out of major cities for possible explosive materials or chemicals, and so these kinds of alerts are issued on a fairly regular basis among law enforcement officials.

But it takes a certain level of intelligence for the administration to decide whether or not to release it to the public. And this time the director of homeland security says that the information they received from what he believed to be credible sources was enough to issue this threat to the public. But he does say that this warning doesn't mean people should not go on with their lives as usual.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM RIDGE, HOMELAND SECURITY DIRECTOR: It's not an alert to stop your life. It's just a signal to add your eyes, your ears with courage and optimism, to effort to combat the war. That's precisely what we've done, and I dare say that if in the weeks and months ahead, there's absolute agreement within the intelligence community that we need to remind America, again, that we're at war against bin Laden and Al Qaeda. You'll probably see me at the White House giving the same briefing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'CONNOR: Now, while the administration and officials in the administration like Tom Ridge have come under attack from some critics who say that without some kind of specific information, these kinds of warning only serve to panic the population, they believe that by a heightened sense of awareness among the public, that the public has their eyes and ears more widely open, and that they give information to law enforcement officials that the attorney general says he thinks may have actually thwarted some potential attacks -- Paula.

ZAHN: Eileen O'Connor, thanks so much.

Moving on to the issue of medical news this morning. You might take it for granted when you bring your children in to the pediatrician's office they'll get the shots they need. But now some parents are being told they'll have to wait because of a shortage, which could leave hundreds of thousands of children unprotected.

CNN medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us now from Atlanta.

Boy, every time I see the kids get a shot, I'm wincing along with them.

But what vaccines specifically are we talking about that are in short supply?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we are talking about four vaccines being in short supply, Paula, and the concern is not that immediately that we'll see some kind of an escalation in the number of children that are sick, but in the long term, there may be an increase in the number of children who get these what are really very preventable diseases.

Let's take a look at the -- because there are several vaccines. Let's take a look at what they are. Tetanus seems to be the one that's in shortest supply, and this has been going on for quite a while now for tetanus. Also, the new pneumoccocal (ph) vaccine. That helps protect children against meningitis, pneumonia and some other diseases as well. And also the diptheria and pertussis vaccines, and pertussis is a fancy way of saying whooping cough.

Now what's happening is that in some offices somewhere, not obviously every pediatrician's office around the country, parents are coming in expecting to get their scheduled shots, and the doctor is saying, you know what, we just don't have it, and you are going to have to come back later, and in fact, some states, because the parents just can't get them, have been relaxing their requirements for entrance to schools and to day care,. saying, well, we know you can't get a, b and c shots, so don't worry about it, you don't have to get it now. You can just get it later.

And in these offices, if the kids don't come back, then the concern is, that long term, we may see more of these illnesses. If they come back, it's not really such a concern. But some doctors are saying, you know what, it's really tough to follow this schedule. And when we tell parents to come back, we're hoping that they do, and we help them come back, but there's a chance that they might not -- Paula.

ZAHN: The bottom line, you're talking about hundreds of thousands of kids that are walking around unprotected. Explain to us this warning, why this is happening?

COHEN: I don't think we know an exact number of children who have not been receiving these vaccines because of these shortages. The reason is --there are apparently many reasons for this, and I don't think anyone has actually gotten to the bottom of it. One of the reasons is that there are fewer people making these vaccines, fewer companies making these vaccines than there used to be. In addition, there have been several manufacturing problems in making these vaccines. And thirdly, making these vaccines and selling them not all that lucrative. If you were a pharmaceutical company, you'd be much better off putting your money into other things, if you were just looking at it from a financial point of view.

Now the General Accounting Office is going to be investigating of some these causes and reporting back to Congress in January.

ZAHN: All right, Elizabeth Cohen. Thanks for that education. We are going to continue now talking about what this all means. Is the government paying enough attention to this latest public health issue?

Rhode Island Senator Jack Reed wants to increase the CDC budget to address the vaccine shortage. He joins me from Washington this morning. and from Jackson, Mississippi, Dr. Ed Thompson, that state's chief health officer.

Welcome, gentlemen. Good to have you with us this morning.

SEN. JACK REED (D), RHODE ISLAND: Good morning.

DR. ED THOMPSON, JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI CHIEF HEALTH OFFICER: Morning.

ZAHN: Senator Reed, how worried are you worried about this shortage?

REED: Well, this is say problem. It could be a severe problem. What we have is an example of the fragility of our system of immunization. It's been quite successful, we're reaching new records, but there are weak points, and we're only as strong as the weakest link. I believe we have to put more resources in. We have to look carefully at how the vaccines are produced, how their distributed. We have to coordinate much better between private physicians, public health authorities, between private pharmaceutical companies. And we have to coordinate a great deal more. That's why I have asked the General Accounting Office to conduct this survey of possible programs that we can do at the federal level.

ZAHN: And, Senator Reed, while this is all being sorted out, how vulnerable are our children, particularly those who haven't had shots on time?

REED: Well, we've seen some record levels of immunization. Unfortunately, there are pockets of underimmunization. In some respects the childrens' immunization program has been a victim of its success. We tend to take it for granted. We haven't invested some money at the federal level, or most particularly, the state level, to have the infrastructure to deliver these vaccines.

So there are some children at risk. I don't think we reached crisis point yet, but that's why it's appropriate, and indeed important to act now to avoid a situation were there are avoidable diseases that children can be tracked, because it's not properly immunized.

ZAHN: Dr. Thompson, do we have any idea how many kids we're talking about who haven't been able to get these shots at the right time?

THOMPSON: I don't think we know right now exactly how many kids missed shots of vaccine, but we do know a few things. We know, for instance, that right now in this country 200 children every die from pneumoccocal disease, and we can prevent almost every one of those diseases, and yet we are short of the new vaccine that can prevent that disease in these youngsters. We don't see children die of diptheria and pertussis anymore, but we could see begin seeing that again if we don't heed the early warning signs of something being badly wrong with our public immunization system and our private immunization system.

ZAHN: So, Dr. Thompson, what's your analysis? Why is there a shortage? You heard Elizabeth Cohen report, there is a suggestion that perhaps too few manufactures are making these vaccine and perhaps the business isn't lucrative enough to keep supplies up. Do you buy any of that judgment?

THOMPSON: There are lots of different reasons. I buy all of that, because there are multiple factors that we are having shortages of vaccines right now. That's one of biggest problems, the vaccines themselves.

The other problem is the problem with the infrastructure that gives those vaccines. A minute ago, we saw a child getting a shot. You were looking at the needle. I was looking at the hands that gave the shot. Those hands are infrastructure. That's what gets the bottle to the child. We allowed our infrastructure for immunization in this country to erode away to the point it is in danger. We've got to look at the early warning signs of that as well.

ZAHN: So what is the answer here, Senator Reed? You talked a little bit about the survey, the General Accounting Offices might accomplish. In the meantime, would you propose the idea of the government trying to stockpile these vaccines, so kids don't fall through the cracks?

REED: I think there are several responses. First, we have to put more resources into the two major programs at the federal level, the 317 program, which provides resources to states for immunization, and the childrens' vaccine program, and then we have to require the states also invest money in their infrastructure, as Dr. Thompson so accurately pointed out, and then we have to begin to think about whether we need long-term contracts with suppliers to make it economically viable for them to produce reasonable and reliable amounts of vaccine. We have to talk about better coordination between private doctors, who give lots of the vaccinations these days, and public health authorities, so there's a whole strategy that we have to pursue, and we have to start now. Again, as Dr. Thompson pointed out, these are the early signs of the system that's under stress, that's fragile, and we have to strengthen the system, because immunization is the best weapon we have against disease, and it's been remarkably successful, and we have to reinforce the success with real resources.

ZAHN: How troubled are you, Dr. Thompson, in the meantime, school districts are relaxing requirement for immunization, because they realize not all parents have access to these vaccines because of shortages?

THOMPSON: I think it's very troubling. We've not yet reached the point in this country that we're seeing outbreaks of vaccine preventable diseases, but we've seen what's happened in some other countries, when for various reasons, children haven't got vaccines they needed. And we've seen outbreaks of diseases that should have been gone decades ago. We remember that the diseases these vaccines prevent are under control, but the bacteria and the virus that cause the diseases are still here, and they are waiting for any chance to make our children and our adults ill.

These diseases are not gone. They are waiting for us to crop our guard.

ZAHN: Dr. Thompson, a quick closing thought, any advice to parents. You said the threat of deaths from DPT is no longer as grave as they once were, but pneumoccocal and -- your best advice to parents who can't get these shots?

THOMPSON: The threat of all of these is still grave. My best advice to parents is be tenacious, be stubborn, make sure you know whether your child is due for any immunization or not. if your child is, you seek out those immunizations. Call your doctor, call your health department. If they don't have vaccine, call them back, ask them when they're going to. Be stubborn about making sure your child is protected.

ZAHN: Very good advice indeed.

Dr. Thompson, thank you very much for you input today. Senator Reed, yours as well. Senator Reed, we'd love to stay in touch with your office so we can track any progress with this story.

REED: Thank you, Paula.

ZAHN: Thank you for your time this morning.

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