Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Statement of Purpose:
The purpose of these meetings is to ask the members of the public to comment upon and rate the government’s influenza pandemic vaccination goals.

1. Who is sponsoring this meeting?
This meeting is being sponsored by the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO), The Keystone Center, in cooperation with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and your local health department.

2. What is the purpose of these meetings?
It is very likely that if the U.S. experiences an influenza pandemic in the future, the vaccine to protect people will be in short supply during the first few weeks of the pandemic. Therefore, the government has developed a list of 10 vaccination goals that will be used to help states and cities decide who should be vaccinated first during the start of a pandemic. The purpose of these meetings is to ask members of the public to comment on and rate the 10 influenza pandemic vaccination goals that the government has developed.

3. Hasn’t this already been done?
Previous public meetings were held in 2005 to discuss broad or “big picture” goals for a pandemic vaccination program. But in order to develop detailed vaccination guidelines that states and cities can use in the case of a pandemic, the government needs more specific input from the public. Therefore, the government would like to meet with the public again to receive feedback on the 10 specific pandemic vaccination goals that they have developed.

4. What are the goals for this meeting?
To obtain input from the public on the government’s 10 pandemic influenza vaccination goals;
To create a meeting environment that will enhance the opportunity of public citizens to discuss a critical health issue with public health officials; and
To conduct the meetings in a trust-building manner.

5. What will be done with the results of the meeting?
The input on the 10 goals provided by the public in these meetings will be summarized and presented to the federal officials who are developing the vaccination recommendations for a severe influenza pandemic. This input will be considered along with other information in the development of these guidelines. The guidelines will then be presented to the public for additional comment.

6. Are there other ways to participate in this process if I cannot attend one of the public meetings?
Yes. Once the vaccination recommendations have been drafted by the government, they will be made available for public comment. The recommendations should be complete by mid-February. For instructions on how to comment on the recommendations, please visit the following website in mid-February, 2007:
http://tinyurl.com/ygsv35 (the Pandemic Influenza Vaccine Prioritization page on The Keystone Center’s website). There you will be directed to a site where you will be able to review and comment on the vaccination guidelines.

7. I’ve already gotten my flu shot this year. Why should I attend this meeting?
The flu shot you received this year is designed to protect you from seasonal influenza. Pandemic influenza is different. Pandemic influenza is far more deadly and has the potential to kill as many as 2 million Americans. Fortunately, we are not currently experiencing pandemic influenza in this country, but it is likely that someday we will. And when we do, there will not be enough vaccine to go around. You should attend this meeting because public health officials will have to decide who will receive the limited supply of pandemic influenza vaccine first and they need your help to make those decisions.

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