San Bernardino County declares swine flu emergency, joining other counties

San Bernardino County public health officials have declared a state of emergency due to H1N1 flu, one in a series of federal, state and local declarations intended to position authorities to deal with people sickened by the new flu strain.

Last month, President Barack Obama declared a national H1N1 emergency and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger  declared a statewide emergency in April.

Public health officials in Los Angeles and Orange counties declared a state of emergency due to H1N1 flu, commonly known as swine flu, last spring. Orange County’s declaration has since lapsed, a spokeswoman said. But L.A. County’s declaration remains in effect. Other counties with declarations include Sacramento, Santa Clara and San Joaquin.

Some county health officials hope that by declaring emergencies at the local level, they can lay claim to more vaccines and other resources, or be reimbursed by state and federal officials for mass vaccination clinics and other efforts.

San Bernardino County, with more than 2 million residents, has received about 30,000 doses of the scarce vaccine so far. Public health officials have vaccinated about 9,000 of those most at risk, according to Jim Lindley, the county’s public health director. But hundreds of thousands more who need the vaccine have not been inoculated, Lindley said.

“We can’t do much about the spread of the disease until we get enough vaccines,” Lindley said.

He said the decision to declare the state of emergency was strategic.

“If all of a sudden the manufacturers release a bunch of vaccine and they have to distribute that through the state Department of Public Health, the first counties they will look at are those that have declared a state of emergency," Lindley said. "If something becomes available, we go to the head of the list.”

But state officials said declaring a state of emergency does not necessarily give a county an edge.

“If this were a single county being affected, that would be different. But since there’s a statewide event and everybody’s sort of in the same boat, I don’t think it would work,” said Mike Sicilia, a spokesman for the state’s Department of Public Health.

Sicilia said state officials are working with officials in San Bernardino and 24 other local health agencies that have received less than 45% of their orders for H1N1 flu vaccines, the state average.

“We’re trying to get everyone back up to parity,” Sicilia said.

-- Molly Hennessy-Fiske

Comments

[kathy]

So, How many people are sick in San Bernadino? Are the hospitals overflowing with sick people? It sounds like the so called "emergency" is about not enough vaccines for the amount of people who live there.

All of this hype and scare tactic is ridiculous! Now children are walking around in fear thinking they are going to die.

These H1N1 vaccines are DANGEROUS!

From VRAN.org:
Aside from risk due to completely inadequate testing, we cannot be sure of all the risks due to ingredients because there’s no monograph available for this unlicensed vaccine. We do know that Canada has ordered a vaccine containing the adjuvant AS03.

AS03 contains squalene, a substance which has been linked to Gulf War Syndrome. Squalene is an oil which is naturally present in human and animal brain and nerve tissues. When injected, it can cause autoimmune disease. Polysorbate 80 is another risky component of AS03. And, as is the yearly flu shot, the ‘pandemic’ vaccine will most likely be preserved with the mercury compound, thimerosal.

Because the vaccine is unlicensed, there has been no post-marketing surveillance to discover long term risks. Reports from this would undoubtedly reveal numerous types of adverse events and deaths resulting from or contributed to by the vaccine.

[Figgins]

All the hype about Swine Flu is just that - HYPE. It is a thinly disguised attempt to garner more money from the Federal Budget for healthcare. Scare everyone into thinking they need a vaccine, and the demand for the vaccine will increase. Thus prompting health officials to use the hype-created demand to get more federal dollars.

If you are a healthy person, do what your mother taught you to do: wash your hands before eating; avoid obviously ill people; stay in bed if you feel sick.

A vaccine for Swine Flu is not necessary for the great majority of the populace.

[JD]

To Kathy and all other readers who read the piece on VRAN.org-

Here's an amazing rebuttal:
http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=85

Please don't put the general population at risk by spreading these lies about vaccines. Do you really want measles, polio, etc. to make a huge comeback? Give me a break. I do, however, admit that I ask for thimersol-free flu vaccine every year even though it has less mercury in it than a tuna sandwich...

[Ridiculous]

Hmmmm. I wonder whether the more than 4,000 people who have died from swine flu in the US so far would agree with Kathy. My guess is . . . . no. But I'm just guessing.

[Dan]

They continually fail to mention that they also had underlying medical conditions compounded by the virus. We also know that with any disease that until your immune system is fully developed people are more likely to get.