By Judith Burns
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- A Washington, D.C., nonprofit group wants to know why Wall Street bankers are getting vaccines against the new H1N1 flu strain when many Americans are being told to wait.
The nonprofit Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, or CREW, is urging U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to begin an immediate investigation into the matter. In a letter Thursday to Sebelius, the group questioned why the U.S. Centers for Disease Control approved distribution of scarce vaccines to firms such as Citigroup Inc. (C), Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) and JPMorganChase & Co. (JPM).
Vaccines against the new flu strain are in short supply and should be reserved for those who are most in need of them, CREW said. It said "it is safe to assume" that the vast majority of employees at the banks aren't among the five groups identified by the CDC as being at high risk from the new flu strain--including health-care employees, infants and children, child-care providers, pregnant women, and adults with chronic medical conditions, such as asthma and diabetes.
HHS referred calls about the matter to the CDC. Glen Nowak, a CDC spokesman in Atlanta, said the CDC wasn't involved in the decision; it allocates vaccines to 50 states and a handful of metropolitan areas, including New York City, but leaves it to them to decide how to distribute them.
"How states choose to use their available vaccine is up to them," Nowak told Dow Jones Newswires. He defended the use of work-based clinics, saying they can be an effective way to vaccinate people, and noted that states and cities require vaccine providers to sign agreements that they will distribute them to high-priority groups.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs, in his daily briefing with reporters on Thursday, said the CDC director will send letters to states and cities reiterating that vaccines should be going to the high-risk, high-priority groups identified by the CDC.
Asked whether Wall Street firms should have gotten vaccines, Gibbs said the decision was made by local officials and that "if there's somebody that is not in a priority group that is getting the vaccine, that is obviously a problem."
Five firms are producing H1N1 vaccines for the U.S. market: AstraZeneca PLC's (AZN, AZN.LN) MedImmune unit, which is making a nasal spray version; Australia's CSL Ltd. (CSL.AU); GlaxoSmithKline PLC (GSK, GSK.LN); Novartis AG (NVS, NOVN.VX); and Sanofi-Pasteur, a unit of Sanofi-Aventis SA (SNY, SAN.FR).
U.S. health officials testified Wednesday that 32.3 million doses of the vaccine are available, far short of the 159 million needed to cover all those in the U.S. at high risk from the H1N1 flu.
-By Judith Burns, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-6692; Judith.Burns@dowjones.com