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Vaccine Shortfall May Leave Some Children at Risk

Aired September 18, 2002 - 11:37   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: You know, for years, parents have taken their children in for immunizations against diseases like measles and tetanus. But this year there is a problem. See, the supplies of some vaccines were not available and were not able to meet the demand. The Centers for Disease Control says that the vaccine shortfall has been corrected for all but for one vaccine.
But the corrections didn't really come soon enough for some school districts. They had to end up waving immunization requirements so kids who hadn't received all of their shots could actually attend school. So that made us all wonder. Those kids are more susceptible to diseases than others, and how can vaccine shortages be prevented in the future?

Well, for some answers, we hope, let's turn now to Dr. Lou Cooper. He is president of the American Academy of Pediatrics and he's here with us in Atlanta. Thank you for taking time to stop with us -- stop by and talk to us on this very busy day for you. I know you're going to be traveling quite a bit.

But let's begin with first of all, do you know how many kids may be in this void right now where they haven't gotten the vaccinations they need and may actually be vulnerable right now?

DR. LOU COOPER, PRESIDENT OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS: We don't know the number. I think we're going to be able to play catchup with them if parents will make sure they touch base with their pediatricians to be sure kids have not missed necessary vaccines. This shortage was a wakeup call, Leon. And what we have do is take advantage of it to fix a fundamental issue in the fragility of our national and international vaccine supply.

HARRIS: How did it -- How did this problem come about in the first place and why is it such a surprise to hear about it today?

COOPER: First, it's complacency. We've gotten so successful at preventing disease, everybody forgets about it. Secondly, a series of business decisions and some bad luck in manufacturing all came together. And not a perfect storm, but really, to point out that we have been getting along with just minimal production of vaccine. There are only four makers in this country that produce most of our vaccine.

HARRIS: And there used to be how many?

COOPER: And there used to be 26. The fundamental -- and many steps are being taken to reduce the risk of another shortage, like stock -- CDC stockpiling more vaccines. Like having manufactures able to cooperate with one another so that one doesn't get into trouble and leave us all falling short. Like improving and giving resources to the FDA so they can facilitate the current good manufacturing processes. Those are all important steps, but they're not enough. We have to address the fundamental issue. The fundamental issue is that we don't treat prevention services with the same respect we do treatment services.

HARRIS: When you say we, who do you mean by that?

COOPER: We, and it is a we, it's the American public. We have become complacent. It's very simple. We'll spend as much money on two months supply of a medicine for pain in my shoulder and my nasal stuffiness. In two months, that costs as much as what it would take to give one child all the vaccines they need to protect them against 11 diseases. And so for business reasons, manufacturers do not have the incentives to create new vaccines to take advantage of the new biology, and to build plants sufficient to give us a little extra margin when bad things happen in production. That's a very difficult issue because it goes at the heart of the free enterprise system.

HARRIS: Well, let me ask you, when there is a problem that causes -- that ends up hurting kids in the end, how does a parent find out about that in the first place?

COOPER: Too late, that's how. Goes to the doctor for the six- month vaccines and the poor pediatrician doesn't have the vaccine to give it to them.

HARRIS: All right, so what do parents do now?

COOPER: Well, the American Academy of Pediatrics, working with the government and manufactures, is trying to look at the fundamental issues. And we're going to have to make some fundamental policy changes as to how vaccines are purchased, what they're purchased for and how we protect the world. It also has a global, international component to it too. And so what seems very simple, a shot, protection for life, is in the end not so simple, and it's going to require attention from our president, from Secretary Thompson, and from all of the stake holders, if we are going to really provide some security against not having another shortage and losing countless thousands of lives. So that's the story.

HARRIS: On the way out, I have to ask you this quickly then. While we're waiting for all that action to happen, are you expecting any kind of outbreaks or epidemics in the meantime, because there have been so many kids who haven't gotten their vaccinations?

COOPER: I don't have a crystal ball, so what I'm doing is praying that our previous good work will leave enough immunity in the community to protect against another outbreak.

HARRIS: Well here's hoping you're right about that. Dr. Lou Cooper, thank you very much. Appreciate it. Travel well today.

COOPER: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks Leon. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired September 18, 2002 - 11:37   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: You know, for years, parents have taken their children in for immunizations against diseases like measles and tetanus. But this year there is a problem. See, the supplies of some vaccines were not available and were not able to meet the demand. The Centers for Disease Control says that the vaccine shortfall has been corrected for all but for one vaccine.
But the corrections didn't really come soon enough for some school districts. They had to end up waving immunization requirements so kids who hadn't received all of their shots could actually attend school. So that made us all wonder. Those kids are more susceptible to diseases than others, and how can vaccine shortages be prevented in the future?

Well, for some answers, we hope, let's turn now to Dr. Lou Cooper. He is president of the American Academy of Pediatrics and he's here with us in Atlanta. Thank you for taking time to stop with us -- stop by and talk to us on this very busy day for you. I know you're going to be traveling quite a bit.

But let's begin with first of all, do you know how many kids may be in this void right now where they haven't gotten the vaccinations they need and may actually be vulnerable right now?

DR. LOU COOPER, PRESIDENT OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS: We don't know the number. I think we're going to be able to play catchup with them if parents will make sure they touch base with their pediatricians to be sure kids have not missed necessary vaccines. This shortage was a wakeup call, Leon. And what we have do is take advantage of it to fix a fundamental issue in the fragility of our national and international vaccine supply.

HARRIS: How did it -- How did this problem come about in the first place and why is it such a surprise to hear about it today?

COOPER: First, it's complacency. We've gotten so successful at preventing disease, everybody forgets about it. Secondly, a series of business decisions and some bad luck in manufacturing all came together. And not a perfect storm, but really, to point out that we have been getting along with just minimal production of vaccine. There are only four makers in this country that produce most of our vaccine.

HARRIS: And there used to be how many?

COOPER: And there used to be 26. The fundamental -- and many steps are being taken to reduce the risk of another shortage, like stock -- CDC stockpiling more vaccines. Like having manufactures able to cooperate with one another so that one doesn't get into trouble and leave us all falling short. Like improving and giving resources to the FDA so they can facilitate the current good manufacturing processes. Those are all important steps, but they're not enough. We have to address the fundamental issue. The fundamental issue is that we don't treat prevention services with the same respect we do treatment services.

HARRIS: When you say we, who do you mean by that?

COOPER: We, and it is a we, it's the American public. We have become complacent. It's very simple. We'll spend as much money on two months supply of a medicine for pain in my shoulder and my nasal stuffiness. In two months, that costs as much as what it would take to give one child all the vaccines they need to protect them against 11 diseases. And so for business reasons, manufacturers do not have the incentives to create new vaccines to take advantage of the new biology, and to build plants sufficient to give us a little extra margin when bad things happen in production. That's a very difficult issue because it goes at the heart of the free enterprise system.

HARRIS: Well, let me ask you, when there is a problem that causes -- that ends up hurting kids in the end, how does a parent find out about that in the first place?

COOPER: Too late, that's how. Goes to the doctor for the six- month vaccines and the poor pediatrician doesn't have the vaccine to give it to them.

HARRIS: All right, so what do parents do now?

COOPER: Well, the American Academy of Pediatrics, working with the government and manufactures, is trying to look at the fundamental issues. And we're going to have to make some fundamental policy changes as to how vaccines are purchased, what they're purchased for and how we protect the world. It also has a global, international component to it too. And so what seems very simple, a shot, protection for life, is in the end not so simple, and it's going to require attention from our president, from Secretary Thompson, and from all of the stake holders, if we are going to really provide some security against not having another shortage and losing countless thousands of lives. So that's the story.

HARRIS: On the way out, I have to ask you this quickly then. While we're waiting for all that action to happen, are you expecting any kind of outbreaks or epidemics in the meantime, because there have been so many kids who haven't gotten their vaccinations?

COOPER: I don't have a crystal ball, so what I'm doing is praying that our previous good work will leave enough immunity in the community to protect against another outbreak.

HARRIS: Well here's hoping you're right about that. Dr. Lou Cooper, thank you very much. Appreciate it. Travel well today.

COOPER: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks Leon. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com