Banks' H1N1 Flu Vaccines Stir Outrage

[EV_Ares]

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.

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.

http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/nov2009/db2009115_844446.htm

[crim son]

1. And as always, the outrage will change nothing. n/t

[Igel]

2. You're so right.

People in high-risk groups at those companies should be last in line for vaccines.

Esp. Goldman Sach's childcare facility in NYC. Those kids should have to find a public clinic in Kearney, Nebraska for their shots or nasal spray--on their own, at night, in their nappies.