Wall Street's Vaccine Grab

Why did Goldman Sachs get doses of H1N1 vaccine before high risks groups?

Bonuses were bad enough, but news that Wall Street firms like Goldman Sachs and Citi have gotten batches of H1N1 vaccine before high risk groups have sent some pundits through the roof. Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) sent a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius demanding to know why Wall Street had preferential access to the vaccine. For their part, the firms say that they are dispensing the flu shots only to employees in the "high risk" category, such as pregnant women. Pundits aren't appeased:

• Yves Smith, Naked Capitalism: Welcome to the class system in action. If you don’t work for a big, influential company, go to the back of the queue"

• John, Gawker: "Goldman Sachs and Citigroup have obtained a total of 1,400 doses of swine flu vaccine from the city of New York, while many pediatricians wait for doses. On the other hand, money is more important than babies."

• Joe Weisenthal, The Business Insider: "In defense of the banks, we all benefit when others are vaccinated. It's a positive, not zero-sum game."

• Jessica Pressler, New York Magazine: "Hand 'em all over. Even if they do have any pregnant women working there, it's not like they're human."

• John Aravosis, AmericaBlog: "This is an example of why Democratic turnout was low in the Tuesday's election. Not because Democrats have somehow 'moved too far to the left.' In fact, Democrats have moved too far to the right, and voters have had enough - including Democratic voters who are starting to wonder why 'change' keeps looking like the same old corporate patronage crap we had under the Bush administration."

• Michelle Malkin: "I do think Americans are right to raise questions about swine-flu favoritism. Culture of Corruption spotlights the cozy connections between Wall Street money men and the Obama administration. Both Citigroup and Goldman Sachs (or rather, Government Sachs) have benefited mightily from high-powered largesse. And Team Obama squandered any last benefit of the doubt about its penchant for cronyism long ago."

• Michael Corkery, Wall Street Journal: "It is official: Goldman Sachs is more important than you are."