by Margarita Dimitrova

According to a Harvard School of Public Health survey, two thirds of parents in the United States have failed to find the H1N1 vaccine for their children. From the total of 36 million hard- to – find doses that have been distributed in New York City, Wall Street firms Goldman Sachs and Citigroup received together 14, 000 doses, while priority groups such as children and pregnant women are left empty- handed.

After receiving their share of the state’s shipment from the public -run Centers for Disease Control, the New York City government health authorities are the ones who send the vaccines to the banks whose employers are bound by the CDC to distribute the vaccine only to population deemed to be at high risk. But the truth is that the CDC has no power to enforce how the vaccine is doled out.

Mary Kate Cary a reporter from US News and World Reports one of the leading news magazines in America particularly known for being distinguished from its counterparts for focusing mainly on political, economic, health and education stories, admitted earlier this week while covering the story fr the magazine:  ”Believe me, as a parent of a high risk child who had a heck of a time getting her a shot last week- I think this is outrageous.”

Within the debates some are suggesting that the banks should have donated their allocated vaccines, like Morgan Stanley who received 1,000 doses of the vaccine for its New York and suburban offices, but the company turned over its entire supply to local hospitals when it found out it received shipments before some areas hospitals.

Health professionals say giving the vaccine to these large businesses is a great avenue for vaccinating people.

Carol Lynne a member of the national collaborative grassroots effort called The Tax Day Tea Party who gained vast popularity over the past year organizing protests against the out of control government spending is also torn choosing in between the two sides of the story, asking the questions: ”Are we seeing our first dose of rationing from publicly run health care? Or is this anger being misdirected and just another attempt to create manufactured anger against Wall Street and large employers?”

Most likely the right answers to these could only be released after experiencing the results of whether the H1N1 vaccine has been distributed efficiently. Although one thing is known for sure everyone in New York wants to be a part of this.

image courtesy of usnews.com