Vaccines for Children Program Off and Running

DESPITE a stumble at the start, the Vaccines for Children Program, part of the nation's Childhood Immunization Initiative, is now well under way. "Vaccines have been ordered and shipped. No one should think that the program is not operating. No child in this country will be denied vaccination in a public clinic as a result of the lack of vaccine between now and January," promises Walter Orenstein, MD, who, as director of the National Immunization Program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, Ga, is responsible for its implementation. Orenstein summarized the current status of the Childhood Immunization Initiative at a meeting of the National Vaccine Advisory Committee. Much of the rough ride that the vaccine purchasing effort has experienced was occasioned by the administration's move to set up an independent, centralized vaccine distribution system. The step soon came under strong industry and congressional criticism (JAMA. 1994;272:576-577),