Bill Clinton: “Senator Roberts and I also believe that reforming the flu vaccine system requires increasing demand for vaccinations.…”

“Senator Roberts and I also believe that reforming the flu vaccine system requires increasing demand for vaccinations. This bill increases the funding for CDC's educational initiatives and sets up grants through State and local health departments, in collaboration with health care institutions, insurance companies, and patient groups, to increase vaccination rates among Americans but particularly among priority populations--the elderly, the chronically ill, and those for whom the seasonal flu is a particular risk. We have made progress. Between 1989 and 1990, flu vaccination rates among senior citizens doubled from 33 percent to 66 percent of the population. But we need to get those numbers up even higher to try to meet the Healthy People 2010 goal of having 90 percent of our seniors receive an annual flu vaccine. We have to get more information out to people about why this is important. This is especially critical if we are confronted with pandemic flu. Many people last year wanted to get a seasonal flu vaccine, because they thought it would protect them against pandemic flu. The information was not clear. It wasn't getting out in the right ways. We need to do more to help find reliable sources of information in communities. I want to add another point about the funding for research that we are advocating. We think we should have new vaccine-based technologies, such as cell-based technology.…”