Kirk worries about students and swine flu

KIRK'S REMARKS

Chairman Lieberman, I commend you for holding this hearing today on an issue that has both families and health care professionals deeply concerned: the spread of the H1N1 flu virus.

My state of Massachusetts is known for its excellent schools and colleges and universities. But today, students at these schools are among the most highly at-risk for H1N1 infection.

So far, the Northeast has been spared some of the widespread outbreaks affecting the rest of the nation, but we’re increasingly worried about the delays in getting adequate supplies of the vaccine to the states.

If students who are away at school go home for the Thanksgiving holiday without receiving the vaccine, there’s a real concern that H1N1 will be difficult to control when they return to campus. This will be happening at the very time when students are studying long hours to prepare for final exams. They’re already pushing themselves to the limit, and they’re likely to be less concerned about their health than cramming for their exams.

It was reported yesterday that a student at Framingham State College had to be isolated because he may have contracted H1N1. That case hasn’t been confirmed, but we know these kinds of illnesses can spread quickly on a college campus.

It’s essential for the federal government to be working overtime to deliver the vaccines as quickly as possible.

We’ve all seen the reports of the tragedies for families who have lost a loved one. The crisis is only likely to worsen unless an adequate supply of the vaccine is distributed promptly.

As our witnesses today are well aware, timing is crucial. An analysis I’ve seen indicates that early and widespread use of the vaccine in a major metropolitan area can substantially reduce the number of preventable deaths from the virus.

The outbreaks to come could be significantly worse, which means that the delays in vaccine production and distribution today could have disastrous results in the weeks and months ahead unless they’re resolved quickly.

I hope that our federal agencies will take the time to provide Congress with an after-action report on the H1N1 response, once this outbreak is over, so that we can be better prepared in the future.

I look forward to hearing from our distinguished witnesses on their Departments’ roles in the national response to the virus, and, again, I commend the Chairman for calling this hearing.