Font ResizeBut when police had to be summoned to a drive-through flu shot clinic at a church in New Freedom to calm some people who had grown impatient with the wait, the situation hinted at the scene in which large numbers of people run amok trying to obtain a vital commodity.
Southern York County Regional Police Chief James Childs -- an imposing figure at 6-foot-8 -- went to the scene at St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church to calm people down. He reported, "I think the problem was more people came out than expected."
Indeed. In sleepy little New Freedom, the line snaked through the borough streets. More than 400 people lined up. When a car broke down in the line, causing a backup, people became frustrated and angry, believing that others were cutting in line ahead of them. Chief Childs said he had to warn one man that his angry, belligerent and profane behavior might lead to a citation if he didn't calm down.
The situation had the potential to get ugly. Thankfully, Chief Childs was able to calm things down.
But it does illustrate the current panic surrounding flu shots, particularly vaccinations that offer immunity to the H1N1 virus, which causes the swine flu.
The widely held belief is that there is a shortage of flu vaccine. That's not precisely the case. The problem is in the distribution. The urgency behind producing H1N1 vaccine led to delays in production of seasonal flu vaccine,
There may be a temporary shortage, but vaccine will be available once production catches up to demand.
At this point, it's not a catastrophe. We are not in the midst of a civilization-threatening pandemic. We are not even in the prime time for flu season.
Everybody just needs to calm down a little.
There's just not a lot we can do about it right now.
Yes, there are problems with how we manufacture vaccine in this country, a process that hasn't changed in years despite huge advances in technology. Compounding that is the fact that pharmaceutical companies invest much more money into drugs that can generate maximum profits than vaccines necessary to ensuring public health.
Those are issues that should be addressed in the near future. And the current problems should be considered a learning experience to improve such systems in the future -- a sort of "dry run" for when a pandemic becomes a true state of emergency.
And the scene in New Freedom leaves us a bit concerned about how people will react in such a worst-case scenario.
For now, we can all just have some patience. If you want the vaccine, you should be able to get it. It just may take a little time.
