Claim: U.S. ‘wasted’ months before preparing for virus pandemic.
Verdict: SUPPORTS

Retrieved passages:
title: 2009 flu pandemic
text: much to prepare for the current H1N1 flu outbreak, noting that after H5N1 emerged in Asia, ultimately killing about 60% of the few hundred people infected by it over the years, many countries took steps to try to prevent any similar crisis from spreading further. The CDC and other U.S. governmental agencies used the summer lull to take stock of the United States' response to H1N1 flu and attempt to patch any gaps in the public health safety net before flu season started in early autumn. Preparations included planning a second influenza vaccination program in addition to that for seasonal

title: 2009 flu pandemic
text: only a few days without treatment. Officials also urged communities, businesses and individuals to make contingency plans for possible school closures, multiple employee absences for illness, surges of patients in hospitals and other effects of potentially widespread outbreaks. In February 2010, the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted for "universal" flu vaccination in the U.S. to include all people over six months of age. The 2010–2011 vaccine will protect against the 2009 H1N1 pandemic virus and two other flu viruses. On 27 April 2009, the European Union health commissioner advised Europeans to postpone nonessential travel to the United States

title: Influenza pandemic
text: the current portal: Pandemic Flu Search. On 26 August 2004, Secretary of Health and Human Services, Tommy Thompson released a draft Pandemic Influenza Response and Preparedness Plan, which outlined a coordinated national strategy to prepare for and respond to an influenza pandemic. Public comments were accepted for 60 days. In a speech before the United Nations General Assembly on 14 September 2005, President George W. Bush announced the creation of the International Partnership on Avian and Pandemic Influenza. The Partnership brings together nations and international organizations to improve global readiness by: On 5 October 2005, Democratic Senators Harry Reid, Evan

title: Pandemic H1N1/09 virus
text: contaminated with the virus and then touching one's eyes, nose or mouth. In 2009, the WHO reported that H1N1/09 seemed to be more contagious than seasonal flu. However, a New England Journal of Medicine report stated that the transmissibility of the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus in households was lower than that seen in past pandemics. The US CDC recommended that people should wait at least a day after their fever subsides (usually 3–4 days after the onset of symptoms) before resuming normal activities, but it has been found that they can continue to shed virus for several days after that.

title: Influenza pandemic
text: activity spread over months. Once the level of disease activity drops, a critical communications task will be to balance this information with the possibility of another wave. Pandemic waves can be separated by months and an immediate "at-ease" signal may be premature. In the post-pandemic period, influenza disease activity will have returned to levels normally seen for seasonal influenza. It is expected that the pandemic virus will behave as a seasonal influenza A virus. At this stage, it is important to maintain surveillance and update pandemic preparedness and response plans accordingly. An intensive phase of recovery and evaluation may be

title: Swine influenza
text: against the virus within about 10 days. In the aftermath of the 2009 pandemic, several studies were conducted to see who received influenza vaccines. These studies show that whites are much more likely to be vaccinated for seasonal influenza and for the H1N1 strain than African Americans This could be due to several factors. Historically, there has been mistrust of vaccines and of the medical community from African Americans. Many African Americans do not believe vaccines or doctors to be effective. This mistrust stems from the exploitation of the African American communities during studies like the Tuskegee study. Additionally, vaccines

title: 2009 Flu pandemic in North America
text: or preventing additional cases and releases money for more antiviral drugs," including the transfer of approximately 12 million influenza medications from a federal stockpile to states. The U.S. plans followed a guidebook developed over the past five years to fight a pandemic flu such as H5N1. The situation developed rapidly with the White House initially looking into the matter on April 24 according to press releases, but rapidly adopting a serious stance as the WHO and CDC issued stronger recommendations. On April 29, the US suffered its first confirmed death of swine flu. On April 28, the Centers for Disease

title: World Health Organization
text: involving the H1N1 influenza virus was declared by the then Director-General Margaret Chan in April 2009. Margret Chan declared in 2010 that the H1N1 has moved into the post-pandemic period. By the post-pandemic period critics claimed the WHO had exaggerated the danger, spreading "fear and confusion" rather than "immediate information". Industry experts countered that the 2009 pandemic had led to "unprecedented collaboration between global health authorities, scientists and manufacturers, resulting in the most comprehensive pandemic response ever undertaken, with a number of vaccines approved for use three months after the pandemic declaration. This response was only possible because of the

title: Pandemic H1N1/09 virus
text: (WHO) Director-General Margaret Chan said that the virus must be closely monitored in the southern hemisphere, as it could mix with ordinary seasonal influenza and change in unpredictable ways. Experts writing in the July issue of "The New England Journal of Medicine" note that historically, pandemic viruses have evolved between seasons, and the current strain may become more severe or transmissible in the coming months. They therefore stress the importance of international cooperation to engage in proper surveillance to help monitor changes in the virus's behavior, which will aid in both "vaccine targeting" and interpreting illness patterns in the fall

title: Influenza pandemic
text: pandemic phases; and recommended actions for before, during, and after a pandemic. "[E]fforts by the federal government to prepare for pandemic influenza at the national level include a $100 million DHHS initiative in 2003 to build U.S. vaccine production. Several agencies within Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) – including the Office of the Secretary, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), CDC, and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) – are in the process of working with vaccine manufacturers to facilitate production of pilot vaccine lots for both H5N1 and H9N2 strains as well as contracting

title: Influenza prevention
text: immediately. Those to whom the weakened virus might pose a heightened risk were recommended to wait for the release of killed-virus vaccines, which followed weeks to months later. Vaccine uptake by the public was very low in the UK, but predicted by greater belief in the vaccine's efficacy and safety and a greater perceived risk of the disease. A survey of Americans done in late June 2009 by the Harvard School of Public Health found that roughly 90% said they would be willing to avoid shopping malls, movie theaters, public transportation, and worship services for more than two weeks if

title: Social effects of H5N1
text: a severe pandemic could, in the United States, include 200 million people infected, 90 million clinically ill, and 2 million dead. The study estimates that 30 percent of all workers would become ill and 2.5 percent would die, with 30 percent of workers missing a mean of three weeks of work — resulting in a decrease in the gross domestic product of 5 percent. Furthermore, 18 million to 45 million people would require outpatient care, and economic costs would total approximately $675 billion." One study concludes that a pandemic that reduced the available dock workers by 28% would cut the

title: Influenza research
text: vaccine to every American within six months of a pandemic. Currently, flu vaccines are produced in specialized chicken eggs, but that technique does not allow for speedy mass vaccinations." The companies receiving the contracts were: The US government purchased from Sanofi Pasteur and Chiron Corporation several million doses of vaccine meant to be used in case of an influenza pandemic due to H5N1 and is conducting clinical trials on them. ABC News reported on April 1, 2006 that "Beginning in late 1997, the human trials have tested 30 different vaccines, all pegged to the H5N1 virus." "To address the H9N2

title: 2009 flu pandemic
text: the transmissibility of the H1N1 influenza virus in households is lower than that seen in past pandemics. Most transmissions occur soon before or after the onset of symptoms. The H1N1 virus has been transmitted to animals, including swine, turkeys, ferrets, household cats, at least one dog and a cheetah. The H1N1 vaccine was initially in short supply and in the U.S., the CDC recommended that initial doses should go to priority groups such as pregnant women, people who live with or care for babies under six months old, children six months to four years old and health-care workers. In the

title: 2009 flu pandemic
text: to raise the level of pandemic alert were based on clearly defined virological and epidemiological criteria. It is hard to bend these criteria, no matter what the motive". On 7 May 2009, the WHO stated that containment was not feasible and that countries should focus on mitigating the effect of the virus. They did not recommend closing borders or restricting travel. On 26 April 2009, the Chinese government announced that visitors returning from flu-affected areas who experienced flu-like symptoms within two weeks would be quarantined. U.S. airlines had made no major changes as of the beginning of June 2009, but

title: Influenza pandemic
text: July 2009, more than 70 known clinical trials have been completed or are ongoing for pandemic influenza vaccines. In September 2009, the US Food and Drug Administration approved four vaccines against the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus, and expected the initial vaccine lots to be available within the following month. The World Health Organization (WHO) has developed a global influenza preparedness plan, which defines the stages of a pandemic, outlines WHO's role and makes recommendations for national measures before and during a pandemic. In the 2009 revision of the phase descriptions, the WHO has retained the use of a six-phase approach

title: Spanish flu
text: a role. The disease would usually only affect a certain area for a month before leaving, while the war, which most had initially expected to end quickly, had lasted for four years by the time the pandemic struck. This left little time for the disease to have a significant impact on the economy. Regarding global economic effects, many businesses in the entertainment and service industries suffered losses in revenue, while the health care industry reported profit gains. Historian Nancy Bristow has argued that the pandemic, when combined with the increasing number of women attending college, contributed to the success of

title: Influenza pandemic
text: President Bush unveiled the National Strategy To Safeguard Against The Danger of Pandemic Influenza. He also submitted a request to Congress for $7.1 billion to begin implementing the plan. The request includes $251 million to detect and contain outbreaks before they spread around the world; $2.8 billion to accelerate development of cell-culture technology; $800 million for development of new treatments and vaccines; $1.519 billion for the Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Defense to purchase influenza vaccines; $1.029 billion to stockpile antiviral medications; and $644 million to ensure that all levels of government are prepared to respond to

title: Pandemic H1N1/09 virus
text: virus in the US. This is sometimes compared to the 36,000 people per year who die from the "common flu", mostly in winter, although this number is an estimate. The death rate of H1N1 in the US can be calculated as less than 0.02% from November 2009 figures from the CDC, and has been explicitly calculated as 0.026% in England. Existing vaccines against seasonal flu provide no protection. Vaccines were released in North America in late October. Production may be 3 billion doses per year rather than the earlier estimate of 5 billion. On May 22, 2009, World Health Organization

title: Influenza research
text: H5N1 contained, limiting its speed and extent of mutation, and buying time for new flu vaccine manufacturing methods and factories to come on line so that when the next flu pandemic happens the death toll can be minimized. See Prospects for universal flu vaccines The US government on May 4, 2006 awarded five-year contracts for "more than $1 billion to five drug manufacturers developing technology for speedier mass production of vaccines in the event of a pandemic" from the $3.8 billion pandemic preparedness bill passed in 2005. "The federal government says its goal is to be able to distribute a