Families Line up for Shots as H1N1 Spreads

(CBS)  A chance to get the hard-to-find H1N1 vaccine produced a polite stampeded of parents - and not too happy children - in Fairfax County Saturday morning.

"Oh yeah, it's definitely hard to get," said a man waiting in line. "This is the only place you can find it right now."

Whole families skipped Saturday morning cartoons and braved the rain - and the line - to snap up 12,000 doses of the drug, reports CBS News correspondent Kimberly Dozier.

"He has the shot and i feel a lot better. That's why I waited in line for five hours," said one woman with her son.

Many clinics, like the one in Fairfax County, limited their supply to those most at risk - babies, young children and pregnant women. But the virus is not so selective.

The Centers for Disease Control says H1N1 has spread to 46 states. More than 1,000 Americans have died, and more than 20,000 have been hospitalized.

Special Report: H1N1 Virus

Experts say it will likely spread further. So, much like a disaster declaration before a hurricane, the president declared the swine flu a national emergency. The White House says it's not meant to scare anyone. It simply loosens some of the bureaucratic red tape to make it easier for hospitals to get what they need, should the epidemic get worse.

And health officials have now given doctors easier access to a new weapon against H1N1, an experimental drug called Peramivir, made by Biocryst Pharmaceuticals.

"It's highly potent on the H1N1 virus," said Jon Stonehouse, the President and CEO of Biocryst. "There are lab tests conducted by the CDC that show it's the most potent inhibitor of the H1N1 virus."

But the drug hasn't gone through all the necessary and time-consuming FDA trials yet. So the FDA issued an emergency authorization to allow doctors to give the drug to the most seriously ill - those who aren't able to swallow antivirals Tamiflu or benefit from Relenza, which is usually inhaled. Peramivir, also an antiviral, is given intravenously.

CBS News found eight patients who were deathly ill, but survived after being given the drug as a last resort, like Jon Boudrot, 51.

"I am a lucky son-of-a-gun to be here," Boudrot said. "No question about it."

Delays in producing H1N1 vaccine mean some of the children getting the shot today may have trouble getting the second dose recommended for children under 9 years old.

[Flu_Shot]

Parents being played !

I posted a comment on how the kids were taking advantage of their
parents paranoid stupidity and staying home from school on Friday for fear of
the flu. My comment was deleted and is no longer here. There were also a
number of other comments that were posted that were deleted.
Oh and I forgot to mention on the brighter side the
poor kids did make it to the school dance on Friday night.
Parents wake-up your being played !

[truthforhumanity]

Hmmm...there were 27 comments on here for this article 8 hours ago and now (before posting this note) there are 23 comments. Is CBSNEWS.COM editing/deleting posts? What going on?

[AnswerPLEASE]

Is h1n1 spreading or hit hard amongst the Amish Community?

I have googled and found precious little about this and I am curious

Note that I do NOT want to get into a debate about the autism/vaccine link. I am speaking about H1N1 illness ONLY

[stn_sage]

The number of uninformed people who have done little or no background study concerning H1N1 and are posting on this subject...makes it nearly impossible to have any kind of effective, thoughtful discussion on the subject! WHICH, plays into the hands of the drug manufacturers, U.S. government leaders, W.H.O. officials, and United Nations officials!

So, rather than go into a lengthy discussion, I will say this: if you are easily scared, if you believe everything government officials tell you (and you should know better), if it's easier for you to 'follow the herd' instead of thinking for yourself, and if you won't be able to sleep at night until you've 'done what's right' (as defined by someone else)...THEN, by all means, get the vaccination!

But, remember this: before this sprang onto the scene in Spring 2009 (as declared by health officials) patents for the cure where filed in the Spring of 2007-2008! Which, begs the question: HOW could a cure for a disease be patented, when it hasn't OCCURED YET?! Strange, huh?!

This, also suggests the disease itself IS manufactured...as it would NOT occur in nature...logistics make it a NEAR impossibility! Additionally, the question of it's spread...is suspicious at best! Also, testing was WAIVED...an unprecedented safety violation...though, some hospitals have done improper self-testing in order to provide a basis to avoid lawsuits! And finally, the government has passed liability immunity against all persons involved in administering this "substance"---which, if it were safe...they would NOT have to do! SO---

Having pointed out these facts, I say, simply...caveat emptor!

But, those who say that the vaccine is 'totally safe'...do NOT know what they are talking about!!

[Geezer-Geek]

I don't understand why the CDC and the WHO are not encouraging everybody to take doses of the amino acid, N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC). There is a plethora of credible, recent clinical, multi-centered, prospective, double blind studies, with statistically significant sample sizes, and statistically significant differences in outcome between NAC and placebo. The results show that taking 1200 mg of NAC twice daily essentially eliminates the symptoms if one catches the H1N1 virus. (One such study can be viewed at http://www.cfsn.com/nacimmune.html)

That accomplishes several things even if your are infected;
1) No or reduced symptoms of the virus, especially coughing and sneezing, so you don't feel as bad
2) If you're not coughing and sneezing, you're not spreading the virus around
3) Once you recover from the virus, you're now inoculated against its return.

[2ndSamuel710]

NO vaccination has EVER proven to be safe or effective.. In fact- quite the opposite true.. All infectious diseases were on account of better sanitation & transport of fresh food on dramatic nose dive of reported cases BEFORE vaccination introduced in the 40's & 50's.. Check out- Vaccination Debate.com. or Vac Lib.org.. or Dr. Sherri Tenpenny or Dr Rebecca Carley or Dr. True Ott or Dr. Russel Blaylock.. Just common sense.. Keep the blood clean- do not put poison in it.. Autism is caused by vaccinations.. The Amish have no autism- except for those they adopt from overseas.. Have to get vaccinations come into USA from overseas.. You are responsible for your own heath.. The government wants to kill you.. Fresh food & air & exercise & sunshine.. Vitamin D. Oil of Oregano. Collodial silver.. God's remedy much more powerful than man's. Anything other is just advertising hype to sell & make $..

[novamba]

in my opinion, this situation denotes two problems...A media making news out of nothing in order to sell ads, and a government milking the media's first amendment protection to scare us all into a ridiculous health care plan. Fix Medicare and medicaid first, and that alone will take care of 80% of our uninsured's problems.

[txlakeside]

Gosh ... seems that the dumb as dirt are not so worried about a 1000 deaths so early in the flu season. The dumb as dirt have no concept or concerns of eventual mutations. I guess when the count reaches their threshold of 36,000, only half way through the flu season, then the dumb as dirt will be concerned. Exponential numbers and pandemic are of no concern to the "dumb as dirt". I sure am glad they are not in control! Their solution would be like the republiCONS .... just sit back and do nothing! What a bunch of morons!

[jascarm]

Obama said that the buck stops with him. When will he be held accountable for telling us that the vaccines would be available and then declaring a state of emergency after he failed to follow through?

[riosga94]

How serious can we assume CBS news takes medical reporting when it chooses a boutique gynecologist to tell us about the latest on the H1N1 flu? Could she possibly wear any more make up? How about finding an infectious disease expert instead? Surely, at least one would meet the criteria for TV attractiveness short of being a bimbo?