Survey: 87% favor mandatory health worker H1N1 shots

...healthcare workers, including those who have been exposed and became sick (or asymptomatic) and are now immune.

I myself am continually exposed to the virus, I have been coughed in the face by patients with pos. flu on several occasions and never got sick. In fact, I have never had the flu (at least never have experienced flu symptoms) and have NEVER had the flu shot. Wow, imagine that, I have lived over 3 decades and my darling immune system has protected me.

This whole thing is wrong on sooo many levels. Their are risks and if history repeats itself like in 1976, there will be deaths and guillain barre syndrome resulting from the vaccine.

Even without any risks, it is still so wrong to be forced against my will, my basic rights violated just to ease the fears of the mass public, to create economic stimulation, to be pawn in this corrupt gov't and pharmaceutical scheme. I hate to think what will come next.

Don't say "it's just a shot."

For those of you who think the vaccine is totally safe. Well, you absolutely have no proof or basis for argument. Vaccines contain harmful ingredients, thimersol, mercury containg substance and the gov't FINALLY removed thimersol from childrens vaccines. But they are still in adult vaccines. So the logic follows that the gov't finally recognize the harm with the thimersol, but for years they allowed it to remain.

Every year the FDA allows drugs to be marketed only then to cause sometimes life-threatening conditions and thus be taken off the market. So if you think for a second that the FDA is all-knowing and has our best interests as their top priority, you are gravely mistaken.

Another quick note.. Nurses please stop saying "you better get your flu shot" until you know more of the risks associated (there are more risks than just allergic rxn, malaise, or sore arm). I even had a nurse practitioner tell a coworker that she better be taking her antivirals to prevent getting sick -- she meant for her to take the relenza/tamiflu continuously while exposed, which meant ALL the time, since we are nurses and always exposed. This is so ignorant and so harmful. But the mentality that we need drugs to survive is just sickening, like we've been brainwashed by hidden messages in the drug commercials! (joking.. sort of)

I hope everyone will remember what this country was founded on, the freedom from excessive gov't control that our ancestors fought for, when you allow this sort of mandate to occur. And, by doing nothing, or even lining up like cattle for the stick, you are allowing it to occur.

'Scuse me. It's not exactly new, but it's got side effects. I went online and researched it. I do not remember my source, but I linked it on my facebook page.

It has been fast tracked.

Not necessarily.

**You are not serious right? This is called active immunity, the same as it is with vaccination. So if you are going to knock the body's innate defenses, you should knock the vaccine too.


Not everyone will be as lucky as you are.

**Well, of course not -- I have my own health challenges, as most people do, but getting influenza is not one of them. But that wasn't the point. The point was, since I MYSELF do not get the flu, I CHOOSE to not get the vaccine; this is me, someone else is different, and that is EXACTLY the reason we should be free to choose what is best for our own selves. I want as little of vaccine as possible, what is deemed necessary, weighing the risks and benefits. The number one tenets of healthcare are: 'first do no harm' and utilize the least invasive measure possible. Well for me the least invasive to protect from flu, is maintain my health and fitness, meditate and therefore lower stress, eat lots of fresh produce, very little refined foods, be happy, wash hands, wear masks, etc. That is my way of staying healthy, and so far so good.


GB can result from viral infections like influenza as well, and I'd say that the deaths resulting from the flu will far exceed any number of possible number of theoretical GB cases.

**GB is the extreme as would be allergic reaction, but there are other studies showing links between chronic disease and vaccinations. I will find some research to back it up for you... And YES I know about the recent dismissal of the link between autism and vaccines (but that is just one study).

Certainly the pediatric deaths that have already occurred are now about equal to the seasonal flu deaths. If vaccine can save kids from death by swine flu, then I am all for it.

**Could you find me the stats on this? Because I haven't found it yet.. Thanks.

I do agree that it is wrong to force vaccination on anyone opposed to it, but I doubt that it is being done to create economic stimulation. Why would you think that this a reason for mandation? Do you really believe that this is a govt and pharmaceutical scheme? What makes you think so?

**Actually, to explain the forces at work, the corruption of our gov't is far to weighty a task at this hour to explain. I'm surprised myself that you seem to hold the gov't in such high esteem, as if they have your best interests at heart, that is naive to say the least. It is a GOOD thing to question our gov't, our media used to do that job, the were a sort of watchdog for the gov't, but now they are just puppets. There is a tendency in times of difficulty to look for a savior in our gov't, to not question, to believe they are gonna take care of us and make it all all right again.


OK, I won't say it.

** =)


What is your proof or basis for saying that thimerosal is harmful? And what other ingredients are you worried about?

I would not agree that the offering of thimerosal free vaccines is indicative of a belief that it is harmful but rather that it is giving consumers a choice. If parents feel more comfortable with thimerosal free flu vaccine, it is available. Choose the flu mist or the single dose syringes. Problem solved.

**Mercury accumulates, over time, in the body, from vaccines, fish, amalgam. Some people are more sensitive to mercury than others. Children and especially unborn babies are particularly vulnerable since mercury easily crosses the blood-brain barrier and adheres to the developing neuronal tissue. As far as the flu mist, you know you can't take that if you care for people with severely compromised immune systems, and in my experience patients have reported more side effects from the Flumist -- including sinus congestion, sore throat, and malaise from a few days to a few weeks. Sure the single dose vials do not have thimerosol but I wonder about all those pregnant woment or children who unknowingly get the vaccine from the multidose vial. It's great you are aware but what about the average lay person? http://www.associatedcontent.com/art...n_mercury.html

Sure, drugs do get taken off the market, but that does that translate into saying the flu vaccine is unsafe? I am thinking that FDA is composed of real people that have real kids themselves. They are going to be just as susceptible to the new flu as most of us. And, I think that the rationale behind offering the flu vaccine is to build herd immunity to protect our people especially those most at risk which would include babies that cannot be vaccinated because they are too young. This is why we vaccinate their caregivers.

**That is a very optimistic viewpoint. And, if people weren't greedy and power hungry by nature then that would be true.

I do not understand why your co-worker was told to take antivirals. It is rather unusual to be given the antivirals for exposure so I am guessing that we are missing some important details of this story.

**Umm, actually up until a few weeks ago they were recommending prophylatic therapy for others in close contact. After several months of this practice, there was increasing resistance to Tamiflu and Relenza so prophylatic tx was ceased. In this scenario I was trying to make a point that the mentality today is as if everyone has pharmaceuticals on the brain, figuratively and literally! So many people want a quick fix and rather pop a pill than do the hard work, the drug commercials, how pervasive and powerful drug companies are, etc. The midlevel provider who suggested she take her antivirals was indeed incorrect... healthcare workers should not be taking antivirals on a longterm basis to prevent against healthcare workplace exposure (very hepatotoxic for starters). But I was just trying to show how quick we are to take a pill for everything.

Well, I guess someone has to take the blame for it so it might as well be us...

You are saying that it has side effects but can't give a source for telling us this? This vaccine was just released in the past week or so, and any mention of any significant side effects would be big news, but I have heard nothing, and I am actively looking for this kind of information.


What does that mean exactly?

It exactly means the following:

Swine Flu Vaccine Fast-Tracked to September?

Panel: Skip Most Safety, Efficacy Tests to Get Swine Flu Vaccine in September
By Daniel J. DeNoon
WebMD Health News
Reviewed by Brunilda Nazario, MD

July 17, 2009 -- Pandemic swine flu vaccine should be fast-tracked, with vaccinations starting in mid-September -- soon after schools open.
That recommendation came today in a unanimous vote by the National Biodefense Safety Board (NBSB), an influential board of outside advisors to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.
Getting swine flu vaccine by September means skipping all but the most preliminary clinical tests of vaccine safety and effectiveness. But it means getting some 60 million to 80 million doses nearly at the same time the CDC expects the next wave of the pandemic to hit the U.S....

Why deploy a vaccine that hasn't completed safety and efficacy testing? Because we already have a lot of experience with similar vaccines, concluded the NBSB flu vaccine working group, led by University of Utah flu expert Andrew Pavia, MD.

Pandemic swine flu is a type A, H1N1 flu virus. For decades, a type A H1N1 vaccine has been part of the regular seasonal flu vaccine, and the new vaccine is made exactly the same way.

Fast-tracking the vaccine will mean guessing at the best dose, but that's an educated guess based on the well-established dosage for the seasonal H1N1 vaccine.

A more critical guess is whether people will be protected against the new flu bug with only one shot of vaccine. The NBSB working group suggests that previous exposure to H1N1 virus and H1N1 vaccine will prime virtually the entire population so that only one dose is needed -- even though the seasonal vaccine does not protect against pandemic swine flu.

Fast-tracking the vaccine would also mean deciding who's first in line. Robin Robinson, PhD, director of BARDA, the Health and Human Services agency responsible for the logistics of emergency medical supplies, says 60-80 million doses could be available in mid-September -- if vaccine makers start packaging their products in mid-August. Similar quantities would follow in each subsequent month until demand was met.

FDA Approves Vaccines for 2009 H1N1 Influenza Virus
Approval Provides Important Tool to Fight Pandemic

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced today that it has approved four vaccines against the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus. The vaccines will be distributed nationally after the initial lots become available, which is expected within the next four weeks.

”The H1N1 vaccines approved today undergo the same rigorous FDA manufacturing oversight, product quality testing and lot release procedures that apply to seasonal influenza vaccines,” said Jesse Goodman, M.D., FDA acting chief scientist.

http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Testimony/ucm184309.htm

The Administration’s Flu Vaccine Program: Health, Safety, and Distribution

Statement of

Jesse Goodman, M.D.
Acting Chief Scientist
Deputy Commissioner for Scientific And Medical Programs
Office of the Commissioner
Food and Drug Administration

Before

the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
U.S. House of Representatives

(EXCERPTS)

FDA determined that a monovalent influenza vaccine manufactured according to the same process as licensed seasonal influenza vaccines, but formulated to contain the pandemic 2009 H1N1 influenza virus strain antigen, could be approved as a strain change supplement to existing licensed influenza vaccines. This is consistent with how strain changes are approved each year as supplements to licensed influenza vaccines, which include seasonal H1N1 strains. This proposed regulatory pathway to licensure was discussed in an open public meeting of FDA's Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (the Committee) on July 23, 2009. Presentations were made by representatives from FDA, our sister HHS agencies, NIH and CDC, and industry. The Committee supported FDA’s proposed regulatory strategy for approving the pandemic H1N1 strain change.

FDA does not require clinical studies for strain changes for U.S.-licensed inactivated influenza vaccines. However, clinical studies were undertaken with vaccines made from this strain, because it was important to determine the optimal dosage and number of doses, given the lack of measured background immunity to the 2009 H1N1 influenza strain. The clinical studies were intended to inform whether the 2009 H1N1 influenza vaccine, when given at the usual dose used in seasonal vaccines, is optimally immunogenic (able to generate an immune response likely to protect against infection), and whether older children and adults, who normally need one dose of seasonal vaccine, might need two doses. FDA worked with manufacturers and NIH to design these clinical studies. As mentioned, the data available to date from several of the trials, including from our colleagues at NIH, show that a single dose induces a good immune response in healthy adults and is well-tolerated. Preliminary data from NIH trials in children were released on September 21. These results indicate that the immune response in 10 to 17-year-old children also is similar to the seasonal influenza vaccine in that a single dose produces a good result. As is the case with seasonal influenza vaccines, younger children generated a less robust immune response to one dose of vaccine, and are likely to require two doses. Again, the vaccine was well-tolerated. Trials in pregnant women have just begun and preliminary results will be available in late October. As with seasonal vaccines also recommended for pregnant women, it is expected that a single dose will be immunogenic and well-tolerated.

Will the 2009 H1N1 influenza vaccines be safe?
We expect the 2009 H1N1 influenza vaccine to have a similar safety profile as seasonal flu vaccines, which have a very good safety track record. Over the years, hundreds of millions of Americans have received seasonal flu vaccines. The most common side effects following flu vaccinations are mild, such as soreness, redness, tenderness or swelling where the shot was given. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will be closely monitoring for any signs that the vaccine is causing unexpected adverse events and we will work with state and local health officials to investigate any unusual events.

'Scuse me. It's not exactly new, but it's got side effects. I went online and researched it. I do not remember my source, but I linked it on my facebook page.