A Stitch in Haste

Remember the flu crisis?

Remember the government's intervention with "suggested" rationing, which of course became de facto rationing?

Well:

The nation's shortage of flu vaccine has turned into a surplus, with nearly 5 million doses languishing in the federal government's hastily purchased stockpile, officials said yesterday.

With demand dwindling, it appears likely that instead of running out of shots this year, the government will end up discarding unused vaccine, they said.

In response to the surprising turnaround, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta is poised to drop remaining restrictions on who should get the shots, a move already taken by at least 17 states, in a last-ditch effort to minimize the amount of wasted vaccine. New York took that step yesterday.

In addition, federal and state officials have launched a campaign to persuade more people to get vaccinated, especially those at highest risk from the flu, before the peak of the season hits, probably in the next month or two.
...
But in addition to potentially wasting taxpayer dollars and leaving many people unprotected, the surplus has prompted concern that the confusing situation could have long-term implications for the nation's ability to protect itself against the flu, which claims thousands of lives each year.

A surplus would make it even more difficult to persuade manufacturers to produce more vaccine in future years, a goal public health officials have long pursued, as well as undermine years of efforts to encourage more Americans to get routinely vaccinated, experts said.

To review and conclude: The government tried to correct a societal imbalance and wound up exacerbating it in the other direction, while in the process creating future uncertainty and making long-term planning even more difficult than it was before the government intervened.

Who would have thought there could actually be such a thing as "Keynesian vaccination policy"?

Related Post (with Archive):
Flu Crisis -- 10/28/04