The House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations has planned a hearing for 10 a.m. Thursday to review preparedness for the upcoming flu season.
The subcommittee has a history of finding ways that the public health sector can improve its preparedness for flu seasons by showing ways the health industry can more effectively respond to outbreaks.
In 2014, the flu vaccine did not match the circulating flu strain. This meant that many Americans who had their vaccinations still had the flu last year. In light of this, the subcommittee held a meeting in February to determine better ways to respond to mismatched influenza vaccines. In March, it held another meeting with five leading agency officials to discuss other ways to ensure the vaccine was beneficial.
This week’s hearing will be part of the subcommittee’s ongoing work with federal public health agencies. The bipartisan committee will inspect ways that the health industry has planned and prepared for the vaccine and review lessons that the industry learned from last year’s crisis.
The hearing, titled “U.S. Public Health Preparedness for Seasonal Influenza: Has the Response Improved?” will be held in the Rayburn House Office Building, Room 2322.
