[Dales]

I am not sure how, if they were voluntary, HMOs would have been required to pay for them anyway. If there is something medical that I want but don't need, my HMO doesn't cover it.

[Miss Marple]

My position is that I want the vaccine to be available. I don't necessarily want the government to pay for it unless there is a definite outbreak and it needs to be done quickly for national security.

Those of us who believe in the vaccination should be able to get it. Right now it is very difficult to do so and reports like this simply reinforce doctors' pooh-poohing of the need (coupled with their fear of lawsuits in the remote chance a vaccinated patient gets complications). I would be happy to have my entire family vaccinated and pay for it as a civic duty. For those who don't want the vaccination, that is their business, as long as they understand that if there is an outbreak and we have lots of unvaccinated people, the only recourse the government will have is quarantine of infected areas. (That is how smallpox outbreaks were handled before Jenner discovered the vaccine.)