Fleishman Hillard: The Political View

So, have you got the H1N1 vaccine yet?

I suspect you’ve all been asked that question about a hundred times in the past week.  How was it asked?  Was it idle chatter, sincere interest, or hysterical accusation?

In a pandemic – when the death of two little kids is all over the news – it’s not surprising to see people panic and get emotional.  My wife went to pick up our kids from their caregiver yesterday – only to be ambushed by a group of hysterical mothers of other children at the daycare.  They were insisting that we get our children vaccinated (which we plan to do … but I’ve been on the road and my wife can’t take a day off work to wait in line for 6 hours) and were very emotional and very aggressive.  Ironically, their children had been vaccinated, so they weren’t at risk anyway.  It was a difficult conversation and ended with my wife walking away before she said something she would regret.  Good for her.  This is a tough issue, but not one that should lead people to forget their manners or forget how fortunate we are to live in a country where we have these options.

That’s something that’s been missing from the discussion all week.  In fact, the opposite has view has been appearing with increasing frequency – the sense that the Government has screwed this whole affair up.  The Globe and Mail editorial today even suggests the process is slipping into fiasco. 

That’s not fair.

Have there been challenges with the roll-out of the vaccines over the past week? 

You bet. 

Are there going to be more challenges going forward? 

You can count on it.

But let’s not forget what’s occurred here … several months ago, a new and particularly virulent strain of influenza was discovered.  In some countries, it was not only especially contagious, but surprisingly lethal.  Pretty quickly, the WHO confirmed H1N1 as a pandemic.

Government’s around the world worked together with the pharmaceutical industry to research, develop and begin production of a new vaccine.  In the meantime, we could use Tamiflu, but it wasn’t ideal for wholesale immunization programs.

And over just four months, industry found a solution, governments tested and re-tested to make sure it was safe, and put in place the logistics and infrastructure for a national vaccination program … all in record time.  Oh, and they also purchased 50 million doses of the vaccine to make sure that all Canadians could receive it.

The Opposition and media have accused the government of being irresponsible on this issue – a lot like those hysterical mothers accusing my wife of being irresponsible for not getting the shot in the first week.  The problem with the accusation is that it just doesn’t stand up to the facts. The UK launched their program the week before Canada (focusing on front-line health workers before they started vaccinating the general public) and the US is still rolling it out state-by-state.  In fact, President Obama’s declaration of a State of Emergency late last week was an effort to expedite the roll-out.  Besides, immunizing people in communities spread out the second largest country in the world is a lot harder than managing high volume, high density populations, where you can focus resources in a few key locations.

Everyone – and I mean everyone – should get a shot … a shot of common sense and perspective.  There will be enough vaccine for everyone.  For the most part, people should take the time and get vaccinated – the risks of the vaccine or infinitesimal, whereas the benefits are pretty clear (read Andre Picard’s great piece in the Globe from earlier this week on this point). Sure, there’s going to be a brief break in general immunizations while the focus shifts to pregnant women and non-adjuvant doses, but that’s not a fiasco … it’s a necessary and understandable shift in resources.

If I have one criticism of the Government, it is this … what Canada has accomplished in the past few months is pretty incredible and Canadians should be proud and grateful, but that story isn’t being told.  While government is doing the right things, they are not communicating enough of it to the public.  And in the absence of clear, consistent and constant messages, panic, fear and criticism fills the void.

So, have you got the H1N1 vaccine yet?