US News & World Report: Vaccine Rationing? - H5N1 Captain Trips?

"The pandemic influenza clock is ticking. We just don't know what time it is," says Ed Marcuse, a member of one of the two federal vaccine advisory groups that put the final touches on the Department of Health and Human Services' draft Pandemic Influenza Preparedness and Response Plan.

During an all-day meeting in Rockville, Md., yesterday, the advisers voted unanimously on a scheme for rationing emergency pandemic flu vaccine and recommended that the federal government buy up to 600 million doses—enough for the entire country.

The plan responds to the deadly strain of bird flu called H5N1 still devastating chickens and other poultry throughout Asia. This new virus has now moved into wild migratory birds, tigers, and cats.

Vaccine Rationing?

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