People should not be playing politics at this point. This virus needs both sides working equally together to beat this pandemic
Leadership starts at the top. If the president would set a good example, people might follow the lead and get in line. Instead we hear about his TV ratings, facebook and twitter follower counts, how governors need to be nice if they expect his help and so on. He attacks people he doesn't like and has literally made fun of political opponents who have been diagnosed or awaiting rest results to see of they do have it. None of that behavior is going to demonstrate to the general public that it is time to come together.
Ohhhh wow, those 18K deaths took a year, so those deaths are less important and NONE of them could be prevented by Obama YET Trump is all to blame for what's going on now. You're embarrassing yourself with your despicable hypocrisy everytime you open your mouth. I get a giggle out of people like you that think they are smarter than everyone but in reality are dumber than most. My last comment as this is not a political thread and you aren't worth a sane person's time.
First, the swine flu did not kill 17,000 people. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
has estimated that H1N1 killed about 12,500 Americans between April 2009 and 2010, far fewer people than typically die each year from the flu. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were
about 60.8 million cases of infection with the novel type of influenza virus in the U.S. between April 2009 and April 2010, with a total of approximately 274,304 hospitalizations and 12,469 deaths. In fact, the death toll ended up being far lower than
was initially expected because of the actions of the Obama administration. The strain of influenza also turned out to have a case fatality rate of just
0.02% —
well below even many typical seasonal influenzas.
Second, the president’s characterization of the government’s response does not match reality. If anything, the response to H1N1 was swift in comparison to the current administration’s handling of the coronavirus.
Though the H1N1 virus had begun spreading in Mexico, the first case in the United States was detected on April 15, 2009, in a 10-year-old patient in California. Two days later, CDC laboratory testing confirmed a second infection in an 8-year-old also living in California. Within one week, the CDC had
activated its Emergency Operations Center to respond to what it had identified as an emerging public health threat.
Before the end of April, the government had
declared a public health emergency and started releasing medical supplies and drugs from the CDC’s Strategic National Stockpile. “The real-time PCR test developed by CDC was cleared for use by diagnostic laboratories by FDA under an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) on April 28, 2009, less than two weeks after identification of the new pandemic virus,” the
CDC notes on its website.
The test developed by the CDC was created quickly. It was accurate. And it was shared with governments around the world. The capacity of CDC at that point to make and develop and quickly turn out a test was vastly different than what is occurring with the coronavirus.
In an interview, Dr. Tom Frieden, who was CDC director, said testing for H1N1 and the United States’ willingness to share its test with other countries was a success. “I traveled all over the world and for years afterward even very hostile governments were saying thank you for sending it to us.”
Coronavirus testing, on the other hand, remains mired in delays. Though the first person in the United States was confirmed to have the virus on Jan. 20, a series of problems have kept testing out of reach for many patients with telltale symptoms of the virus. The CDC designed a flawed test for COVID-19, then it took weeks to figure out a fix so state and local labs could use it,
ProPublica found. Trump
said on March 6 that “anybody who wants a test gets a test,” but many doctors, patients and public health leaders say that is not the case.
On Wednesday, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican,
said: “Testing is limited. It will, in all likelihood, remain limited.”
Almost from the day the H1N1 strain of flu was identified, researchers set out to develop a vaccine for it. Six days after the first case was identified in April 2009, the CDC began working to develop a candidate vaccine virus. Clinical trials began in July. And on Sept. 15, the Food and Drug Administration approved four 2009 H1N1 influenza vaccines. The first doses of the vaccine were available in October, and by December, 100 million doses were available to be ordered.
Once it was manufactured, the vaccine was distributed widely. CDC arranged for 126.9 million doses of the vaccine to be shipped to tens of thousands of medical providers. All told, about 81 million U.S. residents were vaccinated, and the strain is now a regular part of annual flu shots.
There is no vaccine yet for the coronavirus. The disease is novel and appears to behave differently than the flu, so it will likely take longer to develop a vaccine. The first patients in a clinical trial of a vaccine were
given shots this week. But Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, cautioned that the process may take a year or more.
“We’re close to starting a phase 1 trial to determine safety,” Fauci
said recently on CNN. “We’re going to do that in about one and a half to two months. But that doesn’t mean you have a vaccine. In order to get a vaccine that’s practically deployable for people to use, it’s going to be at least a year to a year and a half at best.”
If Trump wants to learn from H1N1, he could start readying manufacturing capabilities right now, so once the coronavirus vaccine is proven to be safe and effective, there won’t be any delay.
One of the key lessons from H1N1 was the need for clear and honest communication, something they both faulted in the current coronavirus response. Obama’s administration reacted with alarm as cases of H1N1 were initially reported. Trump, by comparison, repeatedly reassured the public that everything was under control.
“From Day 1, [Obama] said: ‘We will be led by the facts. We need to tell people what we know and what we don’t know,’” Sebelius said. She said she and her team held twice-a-day press conferences to do that.
At one point, in June 2009, Obama
invited experts who helped respond to the 1976 swine flu outbreak to a private meeting at the White House. He wanted to know “what went right and what went wrong. What do we need to learn, how do we need to do this,” Sebelius said.n“I haven’t seen any of that go on with this,” she added, referring to the coronavirus.
Asked to rate his response to the crisis on a scale of 1 to 10, Trump
said on March 16: “I’d rate it a 10. I think we’ve done a great job. ... We were very, very, early with respect to China. And we would have a whole different situation in this country if we didn’t do that.”
Frieden said he’s been troubled by the fact that CDC officials haven’t played a more visible role in the crisis response. Instead of briefings led by CDC leaders, Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and others brief the media each day. “The biggest concern that I see now is the lack of CDC at the table when decisions are being made and at the podium when they’re being communicated,” Frieden said. “That is a really big mistake. That has not happened before.” “This is not the way to run a railroad. It might get better. We’ll see. I hope so. We all want them to succeed.”