White House Declares Swine Flu a National Emergency
President Obama has declared swine flu a national emergency as the number of cases continues to expand nationwide. President Obama says there is potential for the pandemic to overburden local health care resources.
"The rates of illness continue to rise rapidly within many communities across the nation, and the potential exists for the pandemic to overburden health care resources in some localities."
He said the US had already taken "proactive steps" by implementing public health measures and developing an effective swine flu vaccine.
However, last week officials warned there could be delays in the delivery of vaccines.
The cases of swine flu have skyrocketed in October. This is way ahead of the peak of the regular flu season. The CDC's data shows over 2,800 people died from influenza between August 30 to October 17, 2009. The bulk of those cases are likely H1N1 because it is primarily the only flu virus that is spreading right now. The swine flu has been hitting children and pregnant woman especially hard. Over 100 children have been killed by the novel flu virus. Swine flu has also made headlines by sickening young celebrities including LeBron James, Brian Littrell and Ruper Grint. Campuses around the nation have been swamped with cases. As the number of swine flu cases increase this winter employers could find themselves facing severe absenteeism, which could lead to a drop in productivity.
The other big problem is the vaccine shortage. The U.S. government initially planned to have 120 million doses by mid-October. Vaccine shortages and delays have forced it to scale back its estimate to just 50 million by the middle of November and 150 million by the end of the year. Even these totals may be too high as the overly optimistic U.S. government has been reducing the amount of vaccine it expects to receive frequently since June.
President Obama has 
