Banks' H1N1 Flu Vaccines Stir Outrage

Protests mount that Goldman and Citi have the H1N1 flu vaccine amid a shortage. The banks note that only at-risk people can receive doses

By Esmé E. Deprez

Wall Street bankers once again are the target of populist outrage, this time over the news that Goldman Sachs (GS), Citigroup (C), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), and others are receiving limited doses of the H1N1 swine flu vaccine.

Following a Nov. 2 story on BusinessWeek.com, and its subsequent pickup on NBC's Today Show and other media outlets, politicians, lobbyists, and bloggers launched blistering attacks against New York City health officials, the White House, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), and, of course, the "fat cat bankers" themselves.

"It's obscene that Wall Street bankers think they are entitled to private shipments of H1N1 vaccinations while health-care workers, pregnant women, and other at-risk Americans are either waiting in line for hours or getting turned away because of shortages," said Secretary-Treasurer Anna Burger of the Service Employees International Union, or SEIU, in a press release. The SEIU—the largest union of health-care workers in the country, with more than 2 million members—is calling for banks and corporations to donate their vaccine doses to local hospitals.

NYC Officials: Distributions Are Normal

There is as yet no evidence to suggest that Goldman Sachs, Citi, JPMorgan, or any other firm that received doses of the vaccine will use it to vaccinate anyone other than people who qualify as high-risk: pregnant women, children and young people age 6 months to 24 years, people who live with or provide care for infants under 6 months (who cannot be vaccinated), people age 24 to 64 with medical conditions that put them at higher risk for flu-related complications, and health-care workers and emergency medical personnel. In fact, employers and others have to sign a waiver saying so before they can receive the doses.

City officials, who are responsible for placing orders of the vaccine with the CDC, have stressed that distributions to workplaces are in line with normal procedures, part of a deliberate attempt to mitigate illness in as widespread a manner as possible.

The banking outfits tried to raise that point on Thursday, Nov. 5. "It is important to understand that the [New York City] Department of Health decides in its sole discretion who receives H1N1 vaccines—both the amount and timing," said Goldman in an e-mail statement. "Goldman Sachs, like other responsible employers, has requested vaccine and will supply it only to employees who qualify based on the requirements laid down by the CDC and Department of Health."

In an e-mailed statement, Citi said: "Citi, like many other large New York City employers, has for many years partnered with the New York City Department of Health to act as a distribution site for flu vaccines through the company's existing health clinics. As such, Citi is participating in the DOH's distribution system for delivering the H1N1 vaccine throughout New York City. The H1N1 vaccine is being provided through our clinics only to employees in high-risk categories as defined by the CDC."

H1N1 Flu Vaccine Shortages Across the U.S.

Normal vaccine distribution dynamics, however, are being distorted in this case by two factors: the PR drubbing that Goldman, Citi, and other banks have taken over their lucrative executive pay and federal bailouts, and the fact that flu vaccine shortages persist across the country. As of Nov. 4, the CDC's daily allocation update reported 32.3 million doses of vaccine were available. The Los Angeles Times reported on Nov. 5, for example, that California's goal to vaccinate all high-risk patients by Dec. 31 may be threatened by the shortages. At least 25 health agencies throughout the state have received less than half the ordered vaccines, the report said. Critics say it's unfair that certain corporations are receiving limited doses of the vaccine while schools, hospitals, and doctors' offices are still forced to ration what little they have.

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