H1N1 vaccine... why it should be MY choice!

dannyc12 · Oct 23, 2009

This young lady become disabled 10 days after receiving the H1N1 vaccine. I'm not saying it was caused but the vaccine, but I am saying that this is a good reason why it should be each nurse's choice if we get the vaccine, not managements! Of course the media are going to highlight the "1 in a million" stories like this, but it just proves that my body does not belong to management and I should control what is pumped into it! I'm not exactly tech savvy, so let's see if this link works... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mScGC7nFDxM

I don't suppose you have noticed that "Research via Youtube" is never used in peer reviewed journals.

There is zero evidence that the vaccine had anything to do with this case. Make no mistake, you are stating that the vaccine caused this woman's disease, a claim for which you have no evidence.

Seriously, you have to ask some questions here - like why has there not been mass outbreaks of dystonia in response to flu shots? If someone didn't get vaccinated and developed dystonia, then would you blame the person for NOT getting the vaccine? If there was any correlation at all between dystonia and vaccinations, wouldn't it be apparent?

We have a responsibility to use and rely on good sources for evidence. Youtube and "the internet" are not among them. As nurses, we are supposed to educate the public, not mislead them.

CalmAustinRN · Oct 23, 2009

You obviously didn't look at the video ... it is VERY credible ... just look at WHO IS TALKING in it!!!

indigo girl · Oct 23, 2009

Not forced...just lose your livelihood.

Many of us work in states where the employer can fire you for any reason.

So what's next? "Do it or lose it" abortions for nurses who become pregnant when a hospital is short staffed? After all, if they don't like it, they can get a job someplace else, right?
An extreme example (maybe?) but one's apparent desire to put one's body at the mercy of one's employer requires nothing less.
Green hair, 15 earrings, and TB tests are much different than fast-tracked vaccines. You're comparing apples and oranges.

Word salad. Most of this makes no sense except for the fast tracking vaccine part which I will address below.

TB tests are much different than fast-tracked vaccines. You're comparing apples and oranges.

The statement about the vaccine being fast tracked is not correct.

What does fact tracking actually mean when the only thing different about a vaccine is a strain change? They did even more testing than they normally do with the annual seasonal flu vaccine.

http://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/news/20090717/swine-flu-vaccine-fast-track

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.

That panel was only making recommendations, and the article spells out what fast tracking really means. The recommendation to `fast track' the vaccine for delivery in September came from the National Biodefense Science Board (NBSB) at a meeting in July. It would have required vaccine approval by Aug 15th, and the beginning of fill & Finish by mid August, to accomplish. The vaccine wasn't approved until a month after that deadline, Sept 15th, because they chose to wait until the first clinical trial data had come in.

No short cuts, no fast tracking, and MORE testing than normally done each year for a `strain change'.

They did not have to reinvent the wheel with this vaccine.The only thing different about this vaccine is that it is a strain change. Because most of the population has no immunity, they had to test to see what the most efficient dosage for adults and kids was going to be. All of the testing for this vaccine was the same as for every year's STRAIN CHANGE. Limited Clinical trials on several hundred people are conducted to determine dose efficacy. EXCEPT . . . additional testing has/is being conducted this year on Pregnant women, Children with Asthma, and people with HIV which is above and beyond normal Flu vaccine testing.

http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm182399.htm

For Immediate Release: Sept. 15, 2009

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
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.

realnursealso/LPN, LPN · Oct 23, 2009

Just read this on the local news website:

http://www.9wsyr.com/news/local/story/NY-officials-rescind-mandatory-flu-shot-order/POBKFMFmiU67zPCv2thEgA.cspx

blondy2061h, MSN, RN · Oct 23, 2009

Just read this on the local news website:
http://www.9wsyr.com/news/local/story/NY-officials-rescind-mandatory-flu-shot-order/POBKFMFmiU67zPCv2thEgA.cspx

I was wondering if this would happen, since November is nearly here, and I have heard nothing about the shot being available anywhere. Now I'm worried I won't be able to get one.

dscrn · Oct 23, 2009

This young lady become disabled 10 days after receiving the H1N1 vaccine. I'm not saying it was caused but the vaccine, but I am saying that this is a good reason why it should be each nurse's choice if we get the vaccine, not managements! Of course the media are going to highlight the "1 in a million" stories like this, but it just proves that my body does not belong to management and I should control what is pumped into it! I'm not exactly tech savvy, so let's see if this link works... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mScGC7nFDxM

Just heard on the news that NY state has rescinded madatory vaccine H!N1, for healthcare workers...due to shortage of vaccine....

Laidback Al · Oct 23, 2009

^^^^^^^
Not forced...just lose your livelihood.
So what's next? "Do it or lose it" abortions for nurses who become pregnant when a hospital is short staffed? After all, if they don't like it, they can get a job someplace else, right?
An extreme example (maybe?) but one's apparent desire to put one's body at the mercy of one's employer requires nothing less.
Green hair, 15 earrings, and TB tests are much different than fast-tracked vaccines. You're comparing apples and oranges.
I suppose one would toss a patient out in the street if he refused to submit to the vaccine as well?

I must say that indigo girl provided a more detailed response than your post deserved. I will simply respond to your first comment "Not forced...just lose your livelihood."

No one owes you a job and you are not a slave. You are free to quit anytime you don't like your employer's rules and requirements. I have to question how well your were trained during your nursing education. Did you not understand that as a nurse you would be required to adhere to infectious disease prevention protocols that might include vaccinations? If not, your teachers did a poor job of educating you. If you did understand that part of the lecture, you have nothing to complain about now. However, because you are not a slave, you are free to quite your nursing job now and pursue new career opportunities.

Again, one more time, the employer dictates the requirements of the job. How could the health care profession ever survive if every nurse and doctor arbitrarily selected which employer rules they wanted to follow or ignore on any particular day.

CrunchRN, ADN, RN · Oct 23, 2009

I think what is being said is that you may not have a full understanding of what is being discussed and enough information to judge this until you have actually worked as a nurse.

CuriousMe · Oct 23, 2009

I think what is being said is that you may not have a full understanding of what is being discussed and enough information to judge this until you have actually worked as a nurse.

I'm sorry, I'm definitely the nursing student who normally assumes she doesn't know most of what she needs to know in situations. That's why I'm there, there, to learn.

CrunchRN, ADN, RN · Oct 23, 2009

I am not commenting on the veracity of your stated opinions. Just on the judgements you are making. Expecially if you are basing them on a couple comments in this thread.

CuriousMe · Oct 23, 2009

I am not commenting on the veracity of your stated opinions. Just on the judgements you are making. Expecially if you are basing them on a couple comments in this thread.

And I'm not commenting on the person, just the statements.

If the OP of that statement wishes to clarify, they are more than welcome to.

CuriousMe · Oct 23, 2009

No, I do not agree. I also do not feel you judge a persons morality and ethics from a few posts on an on line forum.

Then we agree