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Partner Todd Smith Wrote a Thoughtful Article in The THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2020 | SERVING CHICAGO’S LEGAL COMMUNITY FOR 164 YEARS | CHICAGOLAWBULLETIN.COM VOLUME 166, NO. 167 Flu fiasco of ’76 offers lesson in fight to immunize public against COVID-19 In early 1976, an outbreak increasing and the shot was confusion and mistrust. Two of swine flu at a New Jersey needed. major TV networks gathered military base led to fears of Once the decision was background and reported a devastating pandemic sim - made to implement a mass on it in different ways — ilar to the 1918 Spanish flu. vaccination, the House one that was scientifically In reality, more than 200 sol - Appropriations Committee driven and the other sug - diers had been infected with passed a special bill that gesting the immunization a virus. That single outbreak included $135 million for program was politically led to a public-health deci - the swine flu immunization motivated. sion to immunize all 200 program. In the end, the absence of million Americans. Test batches of the vaccine any swine flu cases led to Millions of dollars were were quickly prepared and officials pulling the plug, spent to vaccinate some 40 field trials conducted. The TODD A. SMITH and vaccinations were million Americans, but the U.S. Centers for Disease stopped. The problems cost swine flu never materialized Control and Prevention ver - Dr. David Sencer his job as on a national scale. ified the findings that the TODD A. SMITH is CDC director. The event severely dam - vaccines were safe. Managing PParPartnerartner at Smith What lessons, if any, have aged the concept of public Yet, before the first ship - been learned? Let’s start health and has been called ments were sent, the vaccine LLaCienaCien LLP in Chicago. with this one. In 1976, Pres - one of the greatest fiascos of manufacturers demanded ident Gerald Ford was pic - modern health care delivery. that the federal government Then there were the side tured getting a flu shot, but What happened, and what indemnify them against effects. In one city, a few eld - critics charged that the can we learn from it? claims of adverse reactions erly people died of heart move was politically driven. Analyses written after the as a requirement for release attacks soon after being vac - Recently, three living U.S. 1976 vaccination campaign of the vaccines. The govern - cinated, and immunizations presidents — one Republi - identified a key problem: ment quickly caved to the were temporarily sus - can and two Democrats — The entire project was cre - industry’s demand, but the pended. Later on, scores of stepped forward. George W. ated in a single decision in damage was done. cases of Guillain-Barré syn - Bush, Bill Clinton and Bar - March 1976, immediately The not-so-subtle message drome were reported as a rack Obama posed in a after the Army base cases to the public: There’s some - reaction to the vaccine. photo op to announce they were identified. thing wrong with this vac - As if all that weren’t would get the shot, thereby Dr. Harvey Fineberg, a cine. enough, communications suggesting bipartisan confi - respected physician and There were other chal - between technical experts dence in the vaccine. then the chair of the Stand - lenges. Field trials suggested and policymakers were Of course, the real basis ing Committee on Emerging children would need two problematic. Political lead - for the public’s trust should Infectious Diseases and 21st shots for adequate protec - ers wanted to do the right be the confidence expressed Century Health Threats, co- tion, complicating the logis - thing but lacked technical by science and physician wrote an after-action report tics. Administrative prob - expertise; public health professionals. about the vaccination cam - lems persisted because experts recognized the COVID-19 triggered a paign. In it, he said the “sin - states varied tremendously uncertainty of the threat but search for a vaccine that gle ‘go or no-go’ decision” in their ability to deliver vac - wanted to convey the risks. could save millions of lives. doomed the project. cines. “If you immunize very Words that are used for Face coverings, hand wash - The administration could large numbers of elderly everyday conversation are ing and social distancing have commissioned the people,” said Fineberg, not often adequate for may be fine for now, but manufacturers to make the “inevitably some will have a tracking a situation such as once the immunization pro - vaccine, he wrote, but to heart attack the next day, so a major flu outbreak. gram is in full swing, every - hold off on administering it you have to prepare the The CDC’s lack of under - thing must be done to pro - until it was clear that the public for such coinci - standing of how the media mote the public’s trust at number of cases was dences.” works contributed to the this critical time. Copyright © 2020 Law Bulletin Media. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission from Law Bulletin Media..
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