Flu vaccine crisis stokes political finger-pointing
By ANNE LINDBERG and LETITIA STEIN
Published October 17, 2004
Tired, angry and scared of heading into winter without flu vaccine, hundreds of shouting people turned up at a St. Petersburg Publix on Saturday, clamoring over a limited supply of shots.
There was nowhere nearly enough, a situation that is common this year. Soon the frustrations vented across Tampa Bay became fodder for candidates scurrying for votes amid the growing national vaccine shortage.
Early Saturday morning, a line of about 600 people snaked around the parking lot at the Publix at Disston Plaza shopping center on 49th Street N. Some had spent the night in sleeping bags, only to learn there were shots for fewer than half the people waiting when Publix opened.
"People were screaming and hollering because they weren't getting tickets," said Pat Gohl of St. Petersburg, comparing the mob scene at the grocery to a ticket booth before a football game.
Her companion, Mary Almquist, said an elderly man threatened to hit her, after Almquist told him to shut up while a nurse announced the shortages.
Store managers called the St. Petersburg Police Department, which sent two officers and a sergeant to help restore calm. Some in the line began talking about the coming election.
"Here's a big black eye two weeks before the election," was the consensus of many, according to Seminole resident Herbert McRoberts, who didn't blame President Bush.
But Democratic politicians moved swiftly to assign blame to Republican leaders.
U.S. Senate candidate Betty Castor, a Tampa resident, commiserated with more than 150 people waiting for flu vaccine at the Albertsons on Dale Mabry Highway in North Tampa.
"Government is not doing the job it should be doing," Castor said, blaming Republican leaders for creating the tensions that erupted in St. Petersburg. "The lack of clear information for people and some calming advice is causing a lot of concern."
Castor staged a news conference at Albertsons to unveil her plan to address the shortages: First, eliminate barriers to importing flu vaccine from Canada and European countries. Then federal government should create incentives for U.S. manufacturers to guarantee vaccine is available to everyone who needs it, Castor said.
"Ms. Castor is trying to make political points," said Jennifer Coxe, a spokeswoman for Martinez. "Mel Martinez understands the issue and is prepared to fight for changes that will actually solve the problem."
Martinez would support legislation to cap medical liability damages, which would protect potential vaccine manufacturers from punitive damages.
Nationally, Democrats accused Bush and the Republican administration of ignoring several years of warnings about possible flu vaccine shortages. Last week, the nation's supply of flu vaccine was cut in half when the British plant of U.S. maker Chiron Corp. was barred from shipping its production because of contamination.
"This is a senior citizen nightmare," said Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, speaking for the John Kerry campaign in a quickly arranged telephone media conference. "This crisis didn't have to happen. These seniors did not have to be put at risk."
While Kerry targeted the flu shot failures of the Bush administration in a speech in Ohio on Saturday, Bush's campaign questioned Kerry's record on the issue.
"Kerry has been a consistent obstacle to flu vaccine production in the United States, including opposing medical liability reform that would have protected vaccine manufacturers from punitive damages," said Reed Dickens, the southeast spokesman for the president's campaign, in a statement.
The political wrangling did nothing to ease the tensions at Publix in in St. Petersburg.
Some residents turned away from the store in tears after learning they would not receive vaccine. Others cheered when they were let in to get their shots.
Many people left once they realized they would not be able to get shots. Others hung around, hoping those with tickets for shots would leave.
As the morning wore on, police left, and the line withered until it extended only down the side of the grocery store. Men and women in wheelchairs and leaning on walkers waited as the sun came out. Some sat on plastic lawn chairs and used umbrellas to shade themselves from the sun. Publix employees handed out water and cookies.
At one point, someone called for a nurse. A few minutes later, a Publix employee carefully steered an electric cart through the crowd and returned carrying a slender, white-haired woman.
By early afternoon, Publix officials told members of the media to leave. Not long after, they again called St. Petersburg police when 50 to 60 more people became upset because there were not enough shots.
Yet some in the crowd, such as McRoberts of Seminole, kept a sense of humor.
"If they can't give me the flu shot, they should give me a shot of rum and Coke," McRoberts said.
