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Main St. v. Wall St.! Some New Yorkers are up in arms upon finding out that Citigroup and Goldman Sachs have received numerous doses of the much-coveted H1N1 vaccine. The two banks each received a several hundred doses for at-risk employees (pregnant women, etc...), but the city's Health Department has had to explain themselves to citizens who believe companies shouldn't get preferential treatment over people waiting in line for the vaccine. "Wall Street banks have already taken so much from us," union official John VanDeventer wrote on the Service Employees International Union website, "But they should not be allowed to take away our health and well-being."
The Government-funded vaccine was distributed to the states, where each state could decide how to administer the vaccination. New York allowed businesses with on-site medical staff to apply for a limited number of doses, and the businesses must agree to administer the vaccine only to high-risk employees. Other top NYC employers, such as Columbia University, NYU, and the New York Presbyterian Healthcare System, also received the vaccine.
But this is a National Emergency, and many people are questioning why these companies are more deserving than other, higher-risk groups. Jessica Scaperotti, a spokeswoman for New York City's Department of Health, told AP "As the vaccine became more available we expanded it to adult providers," and said the companies were "a great avenue for vaccinating people at risk." MSNBC has a video of the crisis below, complete with proof that in these tough times, even high-risk newscasters can't get the shot.
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I thought one of the Right's opposition to healthcare reform was privacy with regards to digital records. now how would your employer know if you have an underlying condition in this instance. so you trust to give this info to your employer.
and is it safe to assume if you get the flu now it's the H1NI? because I'm reading a lot of posters on Gawker saying they know someone who has it, I don't know anyone who has it.
if it is H1N1, what good is the regular flu shot given in Sept.?
I hope it gives them all the flu
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/100/story/77791.html
Goldman Sachs has destroyed America
Good point Jacque
So Goldman's wrong here for trying to take care of their pregnant or otherwise "at-risk" employees? Or is it just that no one likes Goldman right now and everyone wants to dump on them, even when they're doing something like trying to protect some of their employees from getting the H1N1 strain? They got a few hundred doses, just like any other company could have for the number of employees they have.
The point is not that we hate Goldman Sachs, but rather once again in America the rich and powerful receive the best healthcare first, and those with fewer rescources are left to fend for themselves. And it stings that much more because it's these same Wall Street fat cats that are the cause for so many of our hard times. Everyone's just sick of seeing everything served up to them on a platter. It's disgusting, but I guess they figure the swine deserve to get the swine flu vaccine first!
please take the time to read this
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/100/story/77791.html
maybe they could get the shot in Prison.
Main Street should be more outraged that Guantanamo inmates will get the shots before they do. At least if Wall Streeters get it, it reduces your chance of catching it from one of them on the train, etc. Inmates on a remote, heavily armored military base have virtually no way of catching H1N1, yet hundreds of doses are on their way there. You got sick? Sorry, the government thought it was more important to protect Mohammed Jihad than you.
but mohammed is not used to our vaccines. so they may have adverse reactions.
they're already immune to the flu the same way I am. walking around barefeet in dirt and eating dirty water nyc hot dogs.
I was in the Apple Store on 5th Ave the other day, and heard an employee tell a customer that the store had given everybody flu shots. When asked if she meant the swine flu shot, she said, yea, I think so (how she doesn't know for sure what was injected in her body, I don't know) . So Apple may have gotten some, too.
For those who think that government health care won't be rationed, well here the government is in charge of this vaccination program and the rationing has already begun.
This comment makes no sense - rolling out a program for a new immunization while vaccines are hastily produced is not "rationing" but rational - major difference. The alternative would be to wait until enough doses are ready for everyone who wants to be immunized; that would be insane. The problem is how the available doses are distributed - no surprise here either: There are swines on Wall Street
http://welling.weedenco.com/html/Wall%20Street%20Swine.jpg
So Goldman has 200 pregnant women? I'll be willing to bet that Lenox Hill Hospital has way more than 200. Moreover, I'm pretty sure that after Goldman vaccinates the five women in their office, the partners will cough up a reason (high blood pressure, you name it) to put themselves in the high risk catagory.
@Jacque: Influenza-like illness is widespread in the NYC area right now and 98% of confirmed cases of influenza are caused by H1N1.
@MissPinkKate: I doubt Apple gave its employees H1N1 vaccine. It was more likely that they gave employees seasonal flu vaccine (an achievement right now, since the vaccine is in short supply). Many companies have programs that contract with physicians or nurses to administer flu vaccines to their employees. Their rationale: better to pay for their employees to have the vaccine to have them miss work later.