| Europeans Reject Swine Flu Vaccine
People throughout Europe are rejecting the H1N1 vaccine en mass,
despite huge campaigns by their governments to get them to take
the shot when it becomes available within the next week.
In Germany uproar continues to grow concerning the fact that
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and government ministers, as well
as the armed forces there, will receive a special, additive-free
H1N1 vaccine.
The soldiers and the German government elites will receive Celvapan,
an adjuvant-free vaccine manufactured by Baxter. The German public,
however, will receive a vaccine produced by GlaxoSmithKline which
contains squalene and the mercury based preservative thimerosal.
A report yesterday in the leading German newspaper Die
Welt describes the public sentiment towards the news:
That throws a treacherous light on the announcements of the
German health ministry and the Paul Ehrlich Institute (PEI) responsible
for vaccines. Why should the government and high-ranking officials
get special treatment, the people who they rule over are asking.
The dirty word of a "two-tier medicine" comes to mind.
And then thoughts turn to Orwell’s novel "Animal Farm"
where all are equal but "some are more equal."
Polls
in Germany, even before this news, have indicated that only
one third of the population are interested in receiving the H1N1
vaccination.
Last week Spiegel reported that there has been an “open
rebellion” by general medical professionals and child physicians
in Germany over use of the toxic vaccine. Dieter Ludwig, chairman
of the drug commission of the German medical profession, told
Spiegel that health authorities have colluded with pharmaceutical
companies.
GlaxoSmithKline itself has
issued a press statement in which the company defends the
decision by the German government.
Across the border in Denmark, public officials and health care
workers chosen as primary recipients of the vaccine are declining
it, saying that the virus is too mild to warrant taking the shot.
Of 360,000 police officers, nurses, doctors and others identified
as holding key positions, only around 30% have applied for vaccination
appointments, according
to Denmark’s largest vaccination agency.
Danske Lægers Vaccinations Service (DLVS, Danish Doctors
Vaccination Service) Chairman Karsten Østergaard revealed
that under a third of those chosen will take the vaccine.
The news comes despite extensive planning for a massive swine
flu immunization campaign on behalf of the Danish Government this
Fall to inoculate one fifth of the total population.
Meanwhile, the vast majority of Scandinavian neighbours in Finland
have indicated that they have no
interest in taking the vaccine.
Results of three major nationwide polls held by Finnish media
outlets Ilta-Sanomat, MTV3 and Helsingin Sanomat reveal that up
to 75% of people there will refuse to take the H1N1 shot when
it becomes available in the next few days.
The Finnish government has also launched
a mass campaign to vaccinate the public there. Healthcare
workers in Finland are due
to receive the first inoculations next week.
Rejection of the vaccine is also prevalent
In the Netherlands, with two thirds of nursing staff saying
they do not want to be inoculated against the H1N1 virus. Large
portions of the populations of France, Belgium and Spain have
also indicated they want no part of the jab.
The feeling of the people in Europe reflect those of the populations
of the UK, the US and Canada, large portions of which have indicted
great reservations over the safety of the vaccine.
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