h00tin' and h0llerin'

It wasn't long ago that Canadians were told that we have approximately 50 Million vaccines for the H1N1 virus (a.k.a Swine Flu, or as I like to call it, this year's SARS); this sounded great and, in the words of Global News, "if you wanted to wait in line, the vaccine was yours". Apparently this is no longer the case.

How do we go from having a surplus of vaccines (15 Million) to apparently having a shortage? I didn't finish my Math degree, but I'm pretty sure that doesn't add up.

That being said, I'd also like to point out that (like many people) I am getting really sick of the fear-mongering that all forms of media have decided to indulge in. Nothing is more effective for ratings and sales of different hygienic products than saying "HEY GUYS! YOU'RE GOING TO DIE IF YOU DON'T ". I know it's an exaggeration, but the underlying message is the same. Yes, H1N1 is serious; is it any more serious than any other flu we might come across? It can be, but it isn't always.

Now, I'm not a doctor; I'm not a health care provider, nor am I even very well informed. What I do know is that statistics regarding the "regular" seasonal flu are pretty scary themselves, yet we never hear anything like this about the "regular" flu. It honestly seems like this is just a slow time of years for news and they desperately need something to talk about (or something to line the pockets of friends in the pharmaceutical industry).

Then again, I could be wrong...it did happen once in the 80's.