Are you concerned over the safety of the swine flu vaccine?

[Praxius]

This is based on a recent poll on CTV's web site that seems to show that the majority polled in Canada are not getting the vaccine. Many other polls by CBC and other news sources have also shown that the majority of Canadians are opt'ing out of getting the vaccine:

Are you concerned over the safety of the swine flu vaccine?
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Yes: 45%
No, I'm getting it: 30%
No, but I still won't get it: 25%

So...... what's your take and why?

[Praxius]

Additional Information:

Canadians don't see H1N1 as a personal risk, only one-third plan to take shot
Canadians don't see H1N1 as a personal risk, only one-third plan to take shot - Winnipeg Free Press

TORONTO - Canadians don't seem to see the H1N1 virus as a personal threat, and few currently plan to get vaccinated against the virus, a new poll indicates.

The Canadian Press Harris-Decima poll suggests interest in the swine flu vaccine has declined in Canada, with only a third of people now saying they will get the shot, compared to 45 per cent in late August.......

..... The poll, conducted from Oct. 1 to 5, suggests at this point people don't believe this virus will have much impact on their lives.

Only 11 per cent of people described themselves as very concerned about H1N1, and 25 per cent said they were somewhat concerned. Nearly two-thirds of people said they either were not very concerned or weren't concerned at all about H1N1

Three-quarters of Canadians surveyed felt they would be exposed to seasonal flu this winter, but only 45 per cent felt they would be exposed to the pandemic virus.

Only five per cent of respondents felt they were very likely to contract swine flu, and 72 per cent felt they were not that likely or not likely at all to get infected with the new virus. In contrast, 18 per cent felt they were very likely to get sick with seasonal flu.

The apparent belief that seasonal flu poses a greater risk at this point than the pandemic virus flies in the face of the virological reports of what flu viruses are circulating in the world at this point......

[Night]

I have a small suspicion in the back of my mind that it was rushed a bit too quickly. Not that I blame anyone or any entity, but I still don't like the idea of taking it.

Nonetheless, I can't afford to get H1N1 this year, or any other flu, so I am getting the H1N1 vaccine and the general influenza A vaccine in the next week or so.

[RickSp]

Everything has risks, including crossing the street. The risks posed by the flu shot appear to be dramatically smaller than the risk of getting the flu.

I've already gotten the seasonal flu shot and will get the H1N1 when it becomes available.

[Moses]

There was a time when I was getting the flu once a year, when I was somewhere between 10 and 15. This one won't kill me. That, and I'm really not good with needles. Probably #2 on my list of "fears I know are irrational, yet still can't shake."

As for the safety of the vaccine, I can't honestly say how this one is any different from any previous vaccine -- There's always SOMEONE who's going to tell you how it's unsafe, and how their cousin's stepson's wife's uncle's girlfriend got sick after getting her shot.

[Praxius]

I have a small suspicion in the back of my mind that it was rushed a bit too quickly. Not that I blame anyone or any entity, but I still don't like the idea of taking it.

Nonetheless, I can't afford to get H1N1 this year, or any other flu, so I am getting the H1N1 vaccine and the general influenza A vaccine in the next week or so.

Afford? You gotta pay for it?

[Praxius]

There was a time when I was getting the flu once a year, when I was somewhere between 10 and 15. This one won't kill me. That, and I'm really not good with needles. Probably #2 on my list of "fears I know are irrational, yet still can't shake."

The last time I ever got the flu of any kind was back in grade 9 which was also the last time I ever got a vaccine for the flu..... got pretty sick for over a week.... sick like I never been sick before.

Now a days I get a cold and that's as bad as it gets..... so I don't trust any of the damn vaccines personally, since all my flus suddenly stopped once I stopped getting vaccines.

As for the safety of the vaccine, I can't honestly say how this one is any different from any previous vaccine -- There's always SOMEONE who's going to tell you how it's unsafe, and how their cousin's stepson's wife's uncle's girlfriend got sick after getting her shot.

Well last night on Global National I believe (I was too many news reports to keep track sometimes) a farmer out west had some serious neurological side effects from the vaccine, a guy who took care of himself, never needed medication and as a senior, still worked his farm everyday. Since this hit him, he has constant shakes, has a pile of prescriptions he has to take daily and he can no longer run his farm.

If I can find the report online I'll post it..... The farmer said that the condition that hit him is indeed quite rare, but he wanted others to at least be aware of it, and that this vaccine isn't perfect or fool proof.

For me personally, I'd much rather take my chances with a virus then take a vaccine that hasn't exactly been tested on a mass scale before.

I'd rather let everybody else be the lab rat and I'll determine later on if it's worthwhile..... but even then I still probably won't get it.

[Praxius]

Everything has risks, including crossing the street. The risks posed by the flu shot appear to be dramatically smaller than the risk of getting the flu.

That is if it actually works.

I've already gotten the seasonal flu shot and will get the H1N1 when it becomes available.

Be cautious:

Could seasonal flu vaccine increase H1N1 risk?
CTV British Columbia- Could seasonal flu vaccine increase H1N1 risk? - CTV News, Shows and Sports -- Canadian Television

"Unpublished Canadian data are raising concerns about whether it's a good idea to get a seasonal flu shot this fall and fuelling a drive by some public health officials in Canada to delay, reduce or scrap altogether campaigns to vaccinate against seasonal flu this year.

Drawn from a series of studies from British Columbia, Quebec and Ontario, the data appear to suggest that people who got a seasonal flu shot last year are about twice as likely to catch swine flu as people who didn't.

A scientific paper has been submitted to a journal and the lead authors -- Dr. Danuta Skowronski of the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control and Dr. Gaston De Serres of Laval University -- are consequently constrained about what they can say about the work. Journals bar would-be authors from discussing their results before they are published."

[Clementine]

I am not getting vaccinated and I am not having my children vaccinated as well. Neither of my children have a asthma or a comprised immune system. We visit the doctor regularly and we have health insurance. So I think we will be fine.

[grandpa]

Not only can I not afford a vaccine, but I want to help turn this into a real life-horror movie in which the human immune system does not reject and destroy the pig's foreign DNA because they've been genetically modified.

One of the main characters could be an escapee from some evil mad science lab, and he could look a little something like this:
gmpigs.jpg (image)

Grandpa h.

[Clementine]

Here are some current links about the vaccine. Both pro and con.

N1H1 Vaccine - Q and A - Prescription Drug Store - ibenefitRx



There are negatives.
Corporate Media in U.S. Ignores Report N1H1 Vaccine Link to Guillain-Barré Syndrome

[The Black Ghost]

The vaccine is almost perfectly safe, but to me it just isnt worth it.