Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) has been one of the nation’s leading advocates of reimportation of prescription drugs, but this week, he focused his attention on a specific medication in short supply — the flu vaccine.
Blagojevich announced this week that his state government is prepared to buy 87,000 doses of the vaccine from Europe to be used for nursing home residents and hospitalized children. Bush’s FDA, which has to approve the purchase, has not yet responded to Illinois’ request, but promises to act “expeditiously.”
I’m wondering, however, if there may be a problem with where the vaccine is made.
The vaccine is made by Aventis Pasteur at its plant in Lyon, France. That vaccine is not licensed by the FDA. But it has the same properties as a flu vaccine Aventis makes at its Pennsylvania plant, which is licensed, Blagojevich said.
France? Will the Bush administration really allow a Democratic governor from a solid-blue state to get sought-after medicine from France? Will the White House allow the country Bush hates most to come to the rescue, bailing out Americans after the president ignored years of warnings about a vaccine shortage?
I think I have a solution. Blagojevich should rename them “freedom vaccines.”