Flu fiasco of ’76 offers lesson in fight to immunize public against COVID-19

Lawyers’ Forum

By Todd A. Smith

Todd A. Smith is Managing Partner at Smith LaCien LLP in Chicago.

Posted December 17, 2020 11:16 AM

Updated December 18, 2020 10:56 AM

In early 1976, an outbreak of swine flu at a New Jersey military base led to fears of a devastating pandemic similar to the 1918 Spanish flu. In reality, more than 200 soldiers had been infected with a virus. That single outbreak led to a public-health decision to immunize all 200 million Americans.Millions of dollars were spent to vaccinate some 40 million Americans, but the swine flu never materialized on a national scale.The event severely damaged the concept of public health and has been called one of the greatest …

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