Have a shot!
Posted on 10/10/2009 8:50:20 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Some Say Getting Immunized Is a Matter of Social Responsibility.
Does Americans' right to determine what is best for themselves and their families trump the federal government's efforts to head off what it believes could be a flu pandemic?
That is perhaps the primary ethical question at the heart of the controversy surrounding the government's swine flu vaccination campaign, and the answer is deeply contested by those on both sides of the issue.
So far, many Americans are balking at the vaccinations, saying there are too many questions about the effectiveness and safety of the vaccine, considering that, for most, the illness does not present a serious threat, according to health experts.
Yet it's clear that the voluntary inoculation program is the keystone of the Obama administration's efforts to combat the H1N1 virus, or swine flu. The US government says it has no intention of forcing vaccinations, but its entire flu strategy could be undermined – endangering public health, they say – if a substantial portion of the US population opts out of the $3 billion program.
The debate is "changing the parameters" for individual responsibility, says Andrew Askland, director of the Center for the Study of Law, Science and Technology at Arizona State University in Tempe.
"Lots of people like the idea of everyone else getting inoculation and, 'If they do, then I don't have to,' " says Professor Askland.
Distrust of the government's vaccination plan is evident in recent polls, which show that two-thirds of parents, despite widespread government assurances, have serious reservations about the vaccines' effectiveness and safety.(continued)
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
Two page article.
Since the last vaccine caused French Polio, even death, its wise to refuse the vaccine even if its forced.
“Does Americans’ right to determine what is best for themselves and their families trump the federal government’s efforts to head off what it believes could be a flu pandemic?”
A bigger and more important questions: Do we have freedoms or not? Can a bunch of us in government tell the rest of us everything about what they want us to do or else?? What if We the People revolt? Are these decisions worth their life? Are they willing to fight and die to force us to do their bidding???
You know, I’m not that old, and I remember a similar commotion made in 1975 or so with Gerald R. Ford. The flu was a dud, and the people who got sick took the vaccine.
Gee, cancha come up with a NEW scare?!
All I know is that I am not taking it, and if they try to force me they better bring alot of help.
NO, HELL NO, and ...NO EFFING WAY
I survived Ford and his “Cure for which there was no known disease”
Yes.
I'm not fond of the anti-vaccine movement in general. But forcing everyone to take this untested vaccine for an overblown flu epidemic? Nuh uh. That's fascism.
/johnny
In a word, yes.
It's astounding to me that any American would ask a such a question. We have truly lost our way, if adult Americans have such little understanding of our basic rights and the fundamental nature of our relationship to our government.
Have a shot!
I only had a flu shot once, and that’s the only time I got the flu....
One reality of this situation is that the H1N1 vaccine will be in short supply for several weeks. They don’t have enough for everyone, and they won’t for a couple of months or more.
I never get flu shots, but will watch this entire situation and decide whether I should consider the H1N1 vaccine later.
I checked online, and Mrs. Sebelius (although she attended a university) has no identifiable baccalaureate degree, and does somehow possess an MPA. (That's public administration, or a masters in "bureaucracy", if you will.
So, with this ... MPA... Mrs. Sebelius vouches for the safety of a vaccine. Really?
She does not know an antigen from an antigravity, or anamnestic from amnesiac, or Guillain-Barré from guillotine, or neuraminidase from bouillabaisse. Mrs. Sebelius (with her non-existent education related to health) has precisely no cred to be HHS secretary. And, she has no business vouching for the safety of any clinical substance injected into other people's bodies.
If there is an excessive neurological response to this vaccine, Mrs. Sebelius will be able to use her ...(woo-hoo) MPA ... skills in re-directing blame.
.
“Cure for which there was no known disease”
LOL
So, we're supposed to believe in the existence of a dire threat because???
And yes, with government health care forced innoculations will be right around the corner.
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