Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is among Cabinet officials leading a swine flu summit in suburban Washington with 500 state and local officials today. The Associated Press is on the scene and reports that the goal is to drive home the point that swine flu (H1N1) vaccinations are likely to be ready this fall with the looming threat of the disease's resurgence, so states should figure out now how to deliver them.
“We want to make sure we are not promoting panic, but we are promoting vigilance and preparation,” Obama said in a phone call from Italy, where he is engaged in a summit on other issues with world leaders.
Back in Bethesda, Md., Sebelius told the meeting that no final decision has been made on vaccination. But studies with experimental doses of the new swine flu vaccine are set to start in early August, to see whether they're safe and seem to work. If all goes well, some vaccine could start to roll out in mid-October, she said.
The government estimates that 1 million Americans have been infected with the never-before-seen virus; about 170 have died.
(Joshua Roberts/Bloomberg News)
