– Advertisement – A woman wearing a protective face mask crosses the road in front of the Bank of England in what would normally be the morning rush hour in the City of London on March 17th, 2020. The financial district of the UK is unusually quiet after the government requested people to refrain from all but essential travel and activities yesterday.Jonathan Perugia The U.K.’s central bank on Thursday held interest rates steady as England enters a fresh period of national lockdown measures expected to hit the country’s economic recovery.Last month, the Bank of England (BOE) asked British banks about their preparedness for negative interest rates, having revealed in September that it was exploring the possibility of taking rates below zero if necessary.Since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in March, the Bank has cut rates twice from 0.75% to 0.1% and launched a bond-buying program worth £745 billion ($965.1 billion).- Advertisement – – Advertisement – The British economy grew 2.1% in August, according to figures released last month by the Office for National Statistics, having suffered an unprecedented 19.8% contraction in the second quarter during the height of nationwide lockdown measures.With cases spiking in the country once again, Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government has announced a new lockdown, running in England from Thursday to December 2. On Wednesday, 492 people died in the U.K. from Covid-19, the highest daily death toll since May 19, while 25,177 new cases were confirmed. read more
– Advertisement – Earlier this week, Christina defended her parenting after people accused her of being an absentee mother to her children. The Christina on the Coast star also shares daughter Taylor, 10, and son Brayden, 5, with her ex-husband, Tarek El Moussa.“Despite what you see on Instagram, most people are struggling,” Christina wrote via Instagram on Thursday, November 5. “When I get told, ‘You must be an absent mother because you are not with your kids’ — smh wake up people. I hardly post anymore … and I def do not want to post my kids every freaking day to make it a contest of who’s a better parent. F that.”- Advertisement – Us confirmed in September that Christina, 37, and Ant had called it quits after less than two years of marriage.Ant Anstead and Christina Anstead. AFF-USA/Shutterstock“Ant and I have made the difficult decision to separate,” Christina wrote via Instagram on September 18. “We are grateful for each other and as always, our children will remain our priority. We appreciate your support and ask for privacy for us and our family as we navigate the future.”The HGTV personality officially filed for divorce at a courthouse in Orange County, California, on Tuesday, November 3.- Advertisement – Working things out. Christina Anstead and her estranged husband, Ant Anstead, are hammering out details of their divorce two months after announcing their separation.The Flip or Flop star, 37, cited “irreconcilable differences” as the reason for their split, according to court documents obtained by Us Weekly. Christina and the former Wheeler Dealers host, 41, are seeking joint legal and physical custody of their 14-month-old son Hudson amid their divorce. The pair are not requesting spousal support and are each paying their own attorney’s fees.- Advertisement – Christina added, “Stop parent shaming people, stop choosing sides when there is no side to choose. My point being when you see stuff on here, take it all with a grain of salt.”Ant, for his part, made light of his divorce and his departure from Wheeler Dealers with costar Mike Brewer.“For me, I’m sad because you and me have got an amazing bromance,” Brewer, 56, told Ant in a clip shared via his Instagram Stories on Monday, November 2. “There’s no, you know … People are gonna say ‘Brewer can’t hold onto these mechanics’ and all this nonsense.”Ant quipped back, “People say that about me and my wives!”The U.K. native was previously married to Louise Herbert from 2005 to 2017. The former couple share daughter Amelie, 17, and son Archie, 14.Listen to Us Weekly’s Hot Hollywood as each week the editors of Us break down the hottest entertainment news stories! read more
– Advertisement – “Thanks to the — believe it or not — hundreds of thousands of people who have sent in tweets, texts, emails, cards and letters wishing me well,” Trebek said. “I’m a lucky guy.”“Jeopardy!” bills itself as “America’s favorite quiz show” and captivated the public with a unique format in which contestants were told the answers and had to provide the questions on a variety of subjects, including movies, politics, history and popular culture.They would answer by saying “What is … ?” or “Who is …. ?”- Advertisement – The Canadian-born host, who made a point of informing fans about his health directly, spoke in a calm, even tone as he revealed his illness and hope for a cure in a video posted March 6, 2019.In the video, Trebek said he was joining the 50,000 other Americans who receive such a diagnosis each year and that he recognized that the prognosis was not encouraging.But Trebek said he intended to fight it and keep working, even joking that he needed to beat the disease because his “Jeopardy!” contract ran for three more years. Less than a week later, he opened the show with a message acknowledging the outpouring of kind words and prayers he’d received.- Advertisement – Alex Trebek, who presided over the beloved quiz show “Jeopardy!” for more than 30 years with dapper charm and a touch of school-master strictness, died Sunday. He was 80.Trebek, who announced in 2019 that he had advanced pancreatic cancer, died at his California home, surrounded by family and friends, “Jeopardy!” studio Sony said.- Advertisement – Trebek, who became its host in 1984, was a master of the format, engaging in friendly banter with contestants, appearing genuinely pleased when they answered correctly and, at the same time, moving the game along in a brisk no-nonsense fashion whenever people struggled for answers.He never pretended to know the answers himself if he really didn’t, deferring to the show’s experts to decide whether a somewhat vague answer had come close enough to be counted as correct.“I try not to take myself too seriously,” he told an interviewer in 2004. “I don’t want to come off as a pompous ass and indicate that I know everything when I don’t.”The show was the brainstorm of Juann Griffin, wife of the late talk show host-entrepreneur Merv Griffin, who said she suggested to him one day that he create a game show where people were given the answers.“Jeopardy!” debuted on NBC in 1964 with Art Fleming as emcee and was an immediate hit. It lasted until 1975, then was revived in syndication with Trebek.Long identified by a full head of hair and trim mustache (though in 2001 he startled viewers by shaving his mustache, “completely on a whim”), Trebek was more than qualified for the job, having started his game show career on “Reach for the Top” in his native country.Moving to the U.S. in 1973, he appeared on “The Wizard of Odds,” “High Rollers,” “The $128,000 Question” and “Double Dare.” Even during his run on “Jeopardy!”, Trebek worked on other shows. In the early 1990s, he was the host of three — “Jeopardy!”, “To Tell the Truth” and “Classic Concentration.”“Jeopardy!” made him famous. He won five Emmys as its host, and received stars on both the Hollywood and Canadian walks of fame. In 2012, the show won a prestigious Peabody Award.He taped his daily “Jeopardy!” shows at a frenetic pace, recording as many as 10 episodes (two weeks’ worth) in just two days. After what was described as a mild heart attack in 2007, he was back at work in just a month.He posted a video in January 2018 announcing he’d undergone surgery for blood clots on the brain that followed a fall he’d taken. The show was on hiatus during his recovery.It had yet to bring in a substitute host for Trebek — save once, when he and “Wheel of Fortune” host Pat Sajak swapped their TV jobs as an April’s Fool prank.In 2012, Trebek acknowledged that he was considering retirement, but had been urged by friends to stay on so he could reach 30 years on the show. He still loved the job, he declared: “What’s not to love? You have the security of a familiar environment, a familiar format, but you have the excitement of new clues and new contestants on every program. You can’t beat that!”Although many viewers considered him one of the key reasons for the show’s success, Trebek himself insisted he was only there to keep things moving.“I’m introduced as the host of ‘Jeopardy!,’ not the star,” he said in a 2012 interview. “My job is to provide the atmosphere and assistance to the contestants to get them to perform at their very best,” he explained. “And if I’m successful doing that, I will be perceived as a nice guy and the audience will think of me as being a bit of a star.” read more
“If Kanye feels like him and Kim are better without me, then let them be without me. I’m OK with that. … I will survive,” Pippen said of the couple, who wed in 2014. “I want everyone to be happy!”Eagled-eye fans noticed in July that Kim wasn’t keeping up with Pippen on the social media platform anymore. A source told Us Weekly at the time that the KKW Beauty CEO “wanted to reset” her account to “just to her family and childhood friends.”The source said, “For Kim’s own mental health, she wanted to narrow down what was showing up on her feed. There are a lot of people she is friends with who she doesn’t follow on social media.”- Advertisement – – Advertisement – Months after Kim Kardashian and Larsa Pippen unfollowed each other on Instagram, fans of the Kardashian-Jenner family are finally getting answers about their falling out.The 46-year-old Real Housewives of Miami alum, who has been friends with Kim, 40, Kourtney Kardashian and Khloé Kardashian, for years, broke her silence on “Hollywood Raw” podcast on Monday, November 9, citing Kanye West as the reason for their issues.- Advertisement – According to Pippen, however, West, 43, encouraged Kim to hit unfollow.“I didn’t feel any type of way. I just felt, like, do what’s best for your family. I love you, you and I are best friends, we’ve been through everything together, I would never do anything to jeopardize our relationship, we’re like sisters, we’re family, but if you have to unfollow me to make your home a better place, do it,” she said. “He talks so much about me being this and that and this and that. I just feel like Kanye was in a place where he really didn’t trust anyone with Kim.”- Advertisement – Pippen went on to slam West several times, claiming he’s “brainwashed” his wife and her sisters.When asked what she would say to the rapper if she saw him, Pippen said, “I don’t know, ‘Where is the love?’ … The funny thing is I love him. I love all of them. … Nothing has happened where it’s like, ‘I’ll never talk to them again.’ I feel like people going through different things and people handle problems differently.”Scroll through for more bombshell claims from Pippen about the famous family — including details of her past (and present) with Tristan Thompson: read more
The U.S. Capitol dome is reflected on an ambulance at sunset in Washington, November 10, 2020.Erin Scott | Reuters McConnell has insisted in recent days that the pace of economic recovery means Congress needs only to pass a targeted, narrow plan to get the country through the next few months. On Tuesday, he said Republicans “want to pass more coronavirus relief” but blamed Democrats for blocking bills the GOP tried to pass in recent weeks.The legislation would include a $300 per week enhanced unemployment benefit, more Paycheck Protection Program loans for small businesses and liability protections for companies. It would not send a second direct payment to most Americans.Pelosi, a California Democrat, has continued to push for a sweeping package after House Democrats passed a $2.2 trillion bill last month. She contended Biden’s election gives Democrats more leverage in legislative talks. Biden on Monday called on Congress to pass a bill similar to the Democrats’ Heroes Act before he takes office.The House-passed bill would reinstate the $600 per week supplemental jobless benefit that expired earlier this year, give another $1,200 stimulus check to individuals, send more than $400 billion to state and local governments and authorize more small business loans, among other provisions.Spokespeople for Pelosi and McConnell did not immediately respond to requests to comment on whether the surging infections make the leaders more likely to pass a bill immediately.Congress has failed to break its stalemate as the U.S. loses control of its Covid-19 outbreak. The country recorded a seven-day average of more than 150,000 cases a day on Monday.The virus has now killed more than 247,000 Americans.State and local governments have started to reinstate shutdowns to slow infections. Even so, some policymakers have not moved as quickly as public health officials would like as they try to balance concerns about businesses failing and workers falling into poverty in the absence of federal help.Promising vaccine trial data have raised hopes for the world emerging from the pandemic’s shadow sooner than later. Even so, it will likely take until at least the middle of 2021 for most Americans to get vaccinated.Getting people inoculated against Covid-19 will take more federal help, as well. GOP Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio, who like his party has called for a more narrow relief bill than Democrats want, urged Congress to pass legislation now in part to prepare vaccine distribution.“That’s expensive and it’s important to make sure the resources are there for that,” he told CNBC on Tuesday. – Advertisement – – Advertisement – “If Leader McConnell and our Republican colleagues want to sit down and negotiate a bipartisan solution, with a bipartisan process, Democrats are ready and willing and able to do so,” said Schumer, D-N.Y.Both McConnell and Pelosi have signaled they want to pass legislation this year, before President-elect Joe Biden takes office. But neither leader has showed willingness to yield ground, making it unclear what could get through the GOP-controlled Senate and Democratic-held House.President Donald Trump has also devoted more of his energy in the last two weeks to fighting the 2020 election results than governing during a once-in-a-century crisis.- Advertisement – Congress appeared nowhere close to passing another coronavirus relief bill Tuesday as infections surge across the country and new public health restrictions threaten businesses and jobs.Lawmakers have not passed new aid in months during the health and economic crisis. As the virus again overwhelms hospitals and forces state and local officials to restrict economic activity, Republicans and Democrats have not budged from their positions on stimulus.On Monday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said he and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi have not heard from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in about two weeks since the Kentucky Republican said he would take the lead for the GOP in the next round of talks. Democrats have pushed for a package that costs at least $2.2 trillion, while Republicans want a roughly $500 billion bill.- Advertisement – read more
Dec 19, 2005 (CIDRAP News) – In a new chapter in a 2-year legal battle over the US military’s anthrax vaccination program, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has reaffirmed its earlier finding that the anthrax vaccine used by the military is safe and effective for preventing all forms of anthrax.It was not immediately clear whether the FDA decision announced last week would help the Department of Defense (DoD) revive its mandatory anthrax vaccination program, which was stopped by a federal judge in October 2004.DoD has been giving the vaccine, called Anthrax Vaccine Adsorbed (Biothrax), to military personnel on a voluntary basis since April of this year.”In light of the [FDA’s] Final Order, the Department will review program options,” Dr. William Winkenwerder, assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, said in a Dec 16 statement. “The military services will continue anthrax vaccinations as they have since April 2005 on a voluntary basis for eligible service members with the option to refuse.”More than 1.3 million service members serving in the Middle East and other areas have received anthrax shots since 1998. But some have objected to the shots out of concern about side effects.In a lawsuit filed by military and civilian contractor personnel, a federal judge ordered DoD to stop requiring the shots because the FDA, in his view, had never specifically approved the vaccine for inhalataional anthrax.The FDA quickly responded with a statement that the vaccine was for safe and effective for all forms of anthrax disease. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan in Washington, DC, then lifted his injunction. But in October 2004 he stopped the vaccinations again, ruling that the FDA had not followed proper procedures in issuing the new approval.In January 2005, the FDA granted DoD’s request for emergency authority to resume the vaccination program, but said the shots had to be voluntary.Also in January, the FDA, to satisfy Sullivan’s objections about procedures, proposed a new approval of safety and effectiveness for the vaccine and asked for public comments. In its 73-page final order issued last week, the agency lists and responds to the public comments.Winkenwerder said experts have consistently found the vaccine to be safe and effective. “The threat of anthrax as a weapon remains real,” he said. “For people at increased risk of exposure, the benefits of the vaccine far outweigh the risks when all factors are considered. Vaccination against anthrax is the best round-the-clock protection available to protect our forces at risk.”See also:FDA final order on anthrax vaccineDec 16 DoD statementJan 13, 2005, CIDRAP News article “FDA seeks comments on controversial anthrax vaccine”May 4, 2005, CIDRAP News article “DoD to resume giving anthrax shots” read more
Jan 17, 2006 (CIDRAP News) – The Swiss drug company Roche said today it would give another 2 million treatment courses of its anitivral drug oseltamivir (Tamiflu) to the World Health Organization for developing countries to use to fight avian influenza in humans.The announcement came as representatives from 90 countries and 20 organizations met in Beijing for a conference to raise funds to battle the H5N1 virus.Roche announced it would give 20 million doses of oseltamivir, enough to treat 2 million people with the recommended regimen of 2 doses a day for 5 days. This is in addition to 3 million treatment courses the company pledged last August for a WHO stockpile to be used to try to snuff out any emerging pandemic.”While the donation made last year is stored centrally, these additional 2 million treatment courses will be stored as regional stockpiles in locations to be determined by WHO to serve the needs of developing countries,” Roche said in a news release.The two donations, plus a smaller one made in 2004, add up to 5.125 million treatment courses of oseltamivir available to the WHO, the company said.The donations apparently are based on the standard Tamiflu regimen of 75 mg twice a day for 5 days. However, a report published in December suggested that a higher dosage or longer treatment course may be needed in some cases of H5N1 infection. The report said a Vietnamese girl with H5N1 avian flu died despite receiving prompt treatment with the recommended dosage.Dr. Margaret Chan, WHO assistant director-general for communicable diseases, said the latest donation would be stored in the WHO’s regional offices and distributed as needed to people in countries that can’t afford their own oseltamivir stockpiles, according to a New York Times report today.The previous gift of 3 million treatment courses is to be used only at the site of a spreading human outbreak in an effort to contain or slow it, the Roche statement said.At the Beijing conference, health officials predicted that governments will have to invest large sums for years to keep avian flu from evolving into a human flu pandemic, according to the Times report.The story said the 2-day conference is expected to yield promises of $1.2 billion to $1.5 billion to help needy countries fight avian flu. Pledges are expected from the conference’s sponsors—the European Union, the World Bank, and China—and other donors, including the United States, the report said.The funds raised are to be used to implement a 3-year action plan that was put together at an international conference in Geneva in November, according to an Agence France-Presse (AFP) report.The European Union said last week it would give 80 million euros, or about $100 million, to the effort. Today, Markos Kyprianou, EU commsioner for health and consumer protection, said the EU would increase its pledge to 100 million euros, or about $121 million, the Times reported.The funds will be used to help the neediest countries improve their ability to detect outbreaks and human cases, officials told AFP.The Times report said many countries have a severe shortage of veterinarians. For example, it said, Laos has only 69 veterinarians, almost all of whom were trained in other Communist countries before the fall of the Soviet Union.See also:Roche news releasehttp://www.roche.com/med-cor-2006-01-17Nov 9, 2005, CIDRAP News report on avian flu conference in Geneva read more
Jul 18, 2007 (CIDRAP News) – The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) yesterday announced it was providing states, US territories, and four metropolitan areas with $896.7 million in public health preparedness funding, with $175 million of the total earmarked for pandemic planning.Preparedness grantsThe bulk of the money is allocated toward Public Health Emergency Cooperative Agreements, which public health departments use to build capacity.HHS secretary Mike Leavitt said in a press release that the funding represents the next step toward boosting state and local public health preparedness and emergency response. “It allows state, local, territorial, and tribal public health jurisdictions to build upon preparedness gains that have been made over the past 5 years of federal funding,” he said in yesterday’s HHS statement.According to the HHS, the funding amount also includes $175 million for pandemic influenza preparedness. In 2006 the HHS allocated $325 million for pandemic preparedness, which was intended to help states prepare and test their pandemic plans, then identify and fix their planning gaps.Von Roebuck, a spokesperson for the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) told CIDRAP News that in coming months the HHS will release additional pandemic planning guidance for states.The preparedness funds also include:$57.3 million to support the Cities Readiness Initiative, a program designed to help 72 major US cities and metropolitan areas respond to bioterrorism and other large-scale public health events by dispensing oral medications to the entire population$35 million to help poison control centers improve their early detection, surveillance, and investigative capabilities in the event of a chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear event$5.4 million to help states that border Mexico and Canada develop and implement programs to detect, investigate, and report urgent infectious disease cases.The public health preparedness allocations, which include the pandemic planning money, range from $5,748,448 for Wyoming to $65,303,030 for California. Amounts for the urban areas range from $9,898,128 for the District of Columbia to $30,712,150 for Los Angeles County.The funds the HHS provided yesterday are in addition to $430 million the agency allocated in June to strengthen the ability of hospitals and other healthcare facilities to respond to bioterror attacks, infectious diseases, and other mass casualty events, the HHS said.Homeland security grantsIn other public health and emergency response funding developments, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced $1.7 in homeland security grants to help states, territories, and urban areas protect against, respond to, and recover from terrorist attacks and other disasters.According to a DHS press release today, the total includes almost $411 million for six urban areas that are at highest risk of a terrorist attack: New York City/northern New Jersey, the national capital region, Los Angeles/Long Beach, the California Bay area, Houston, and Chicago.The Metropolitan Medical Response System (MMRS) and the Citizen Corps Program (CCP) are among the public health projects that are funded through the DHS grants. The amounts for each, announced in January, are $32 million for the MMRS and $14.6 million for the CCP.Communications grantsAlso today, US Commerce secretary Carlos Gutierrez and DHS secretary Michael Chertoff announced $986 million in Public Safety Interoperable Communication grants to help first responders improve and coordinate communications during natural or manmade disasters, according to a DHS press release.The one-time grants, for which localities can apply during the next 30 days, is designed to help public service agencies acquire, deploy, and train for interoperable voice, data, and video communications systems.Different jurisdictions and agencies use different communications technologies, which can impair critical communication among firefighters, police, and other emergency responders during a disaster, the DHS said.”When disaster strikes, first responders must have the tools to communicate,” Gutierrez said in the press release. “Under this streamlined program, states will be given grants to use technology that will make our cities and states safer.”See also:Jul 17 HHS press releasehttp://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2007pres/07/20070717c.htmlJul 11, 2006 CIDRAP News story “HHS to share $225 million for pandemic readiness”CDC Cities Readiness Initiative backgroundhttps://www.cdc.gov/phpr/readiness/mcm.html read more
Jun 24, 2009World pandemic flu cases surpass 55,000The global tally of novel H1N1 flu cases rose to 55,876, including 238 deaths, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported today. The total is an increase of 3,707 since the last WHO update 2 days ago. The list includes nine countries reporting their first novel flu cases: Antigua and Barbuda, Cambodia, Cape Verde, Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Latvia, Montenegro, Tunisia, and Vanuatu. Countries reporting more than 200 new cases are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, and Britain.[WHO update 53]Indonesia reports first pandemic casesIndonesia’s health ministry reported the country’s first novel flu cases today, Bloomberg news reported. The patients are a pilot who traveled to Australia and Hong Kong and a British woman from Australia who was hospitalized in Bali. Officials had said there were no local cases of novel flu, but 2 days ago Singapore’s health ministry included Indonesia on a list of 15 countries that it said had exported the virus. Health experts worry that the new virus could reassort with H5N1 avian influenza.[Jun 24 Bloomberg News story]Argentina reports more deaths, concern over hospital bedsSeven more people in Argentina have died of novel H1N1 influenza, raising the total to 17, the most in South America, the country’s health ministry reported yesterday, according to the Associated Press (AP). All the deaths occurred in or near Buenos Aires, where a city health official said nonessential surgeries would be postponed to free up hospital beds. Argentina has 1,213 novel flu cases, the WHO said today, an increase of 203 from the last report.South Korea quarantines Hawaiian school groupSouth Korean health officials have quarantined 25 members of a high school group from Hawaii after five members of the group tested positive for the novel flu virus, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported today. The group has been quarantined at a hospital since Jun 22 and will be treated and observed for about a week.US officials suggest that new virus originated in AsiaUS agriculture officials believe that the novel H1N1 virus originated in Asia, not in North America, where it was first found, according to a New York Times report today. There is no evidence that the new virus has ever circulated in North American pigs, but a virus taken from a pig in Hong Kong in 2004 was found to be closely related to it, the story said. US officials thus speculate that a human carried the virus from Asia to North America—but they said there is no way to prove the idea.[Jun 24 New York Times report]Modeling conference to tackle pandemic mitigation issuesScientists and public health officials from North America will meet at Arizona State University for 4 days starting tomorrow to discuss pandemic mitigation techniques that relate to mathematical and computer modeling. They will discuss issues such as the impact of mass transit on disease spread, vaccine and antiviral medication planning, and real-time disease surveillance. The conference will also include tabletop pandemic preparedness exercises.[Jun 23 ASU press release] read more
Oct 6, 2009 (CIDRAP News) – States will begin receiving their first injectable doses of the pandemic H1N1 vaccine next week and can look forward to plentiful and steady supplies over the next 2 weeks, federal officials said today.This information may help firm up mass vaccination schedules and clear up the public’s confusion about when they can get the shot, the officials added.Thomas Frieden, MD, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) at a press briefing today called the release of the first 2.2 million doses of the vaccine to states a trickle, but “we’re seeing the tap beginning to flow.”Pandemic influenza virus is active in most states and is slightly declining in some areas and increasing in other areas, Frieden said. Though it would have been nice to have had the vaccine to tamp down the outbreak when schools started, the timing of the campaign is still poised to prevent a lot of infections. In states reporting widespread activity, only 5% to 10% of people have been infected with the virus, he added.Vaccine development, as predicted, took about 6 months, from the identification of the virus in the spring to this week’s release of the first doses, he said. Supply will very soon outstrip demand, Frieden said, “But for now it won’t be available when everyone would like to be vaccinated.”The CDC has cleared the way for states to order production lots of the vaccine as soon as they are manufactured, Frieden said. States will be encouraged to check each day to gauge vaccine availability, he said. Each Friday the CDC will report the amounts available to states and the amounts that states have ordered.”It’s a little bit of a messy process, but it’s the best way to get vaccine out as soon as it becomes available,” Frieden told reporters.Currently, states are distributing the first doses, which are solely the inhaled live attenuated nasal mist form of the H1N1 flu vaccine, made by MedImmune, to healthcare workers, children, and people who care for babies younger than 6 months old.Federal officials expect that states will vary in their approaches to administering the vaccine, he said. Some will conduct several school-based vaccination campaigns, while others may depend on physicians offices and public health clinics. “It’s up to states to figure out what will work best,” he said. Some states will be better prepared to deliver the vaccine than others.School districts in some states, such as New York City and Miami’s Dade County, are planning school-based vaccination clinics, which some experts predict could more quickly immunize the school-age risk group while reducing the burden on physician’s offices. Some districts, though, are hesitant to conduct school-based vaccine clinics because they lack enough school nurses to manage the process.Uncertainty over when vaccine will arrive and how much states will get has been problematic for doctor’s offices and some health departments. Parents, hearing that the first vaccine doses are available, are starting to swamp physician’s offices with calls about the vaccine.San Francisco’s Department of Public Health cancelled its mass pandemic flu vaccine clinics, saying the constantly changing estimates of when the vaccine would arrive made it difficult to reserve big venues such as auditoriums, schools, and community centers, the San Francisco Chronicle reported yesterday on one if its news blogs.Frieden said, “We can expect to see a lot of that the first couple weeks as we get the supply chain worked out,” He added that federal officials are “highly confident” that robust vaccine supplies will be available by mid to late October. read more