Typical poilicy in the Bush administration is to attack a crisis not by helping to solve it, but by denying it ever exists. True to form, the Bush administration is attacking the flu shot shortage by simply denying that the shortage is even a health crisis:
The shortage of flu vaccine in the United States is “not a health crisis,” Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson said, urging people to be patient as the government works to reallocate the nation’s limited number of vaccines.
How nice. No crisis and no panic. Nevermind that seniors are waiting for hours in line for vaccines they may not even get, and at least one person has died in the mounting stress while waiting for it.
I guess the administration thinks this problem can be avoided by taking the same stance they do with the environment. Ignore it, and you don’t have a problem.