Thus Sayeth Comrade Rekha:

While the free market might work with cars or vacuum cleaners, it can't be
trusted to safeguard people's health.

Have you ever noticed that every time socialists blame the free market for a perceived public woe, when you dig a little deeper you discover that the true culprit is government regulation? In issues great and small, (and please people, this flu shot brouhaha is pretty small potatoes), when well intentioned regulators try to jigger the market, things almost inevitably get worse.

What made the Great Depression, well… “Great”? Tarrifs and other trade barriers that made international trade grind to a halt.

What compelled Soviet ex-patriots to fill their luggage with toilet paper when they returned to the Motherland to visit relatives? Government control of the marketplace in its extreme form.

What has caused the current flu vaccine shortage? Government price controls and over regulation.

Thus sayeth Gomer Pile: Surprise, surprise, surprise!