|
Ukraine: Vaccine Ban Blamed For Sweeping Epidemic
Elections may be postponed while martial law
continues. Health minister says one in two will get
flu because vaccination was halted earlier this year
due to deaths
|
|
|
The severity of the mystery epidemic in Ukraine has been blamed
on a ban on flu vaccines that was imposed in September after
a series of deaths, mostly of children, who had received the
shot at government health clinics.
The charge has been made by Oleksy Hromazyn, spokesman
for Ukraine's Ministry of Emergency Situations, who said that
the effective absence of flu vaccinations in Ukraine since September
has helped widen and deepen the impact of the present flu outbreak,
according to a report
from the German agency dpa.
Hromazyn commented that every second Ukrainian
will catch the flu this season because of the recent moratorium
on vaccines.
The charge will strengthen calls from President
Victor Yushchenko for the Ukrainian population to immediately
get inoculated with the new vaccines despite their severe reservations
over the safety of the flu shots.
Hromazyn is member of the National Security and Defense Council,
the body that has been elevated
to the supreme authority in Ukraine by Yushchenko
in the wake of an epidemic that is still shrouded in mystery.
Despite the fact that the outbreak is now showing signs of
slowing, Ukraine remains under virtual martial law after Yushchenko
announced that anyone to comply with NSDC orders will be arrested.
A ban on public gatherings and a restriction of movement remains
in place.
Government officials have now stated that elections
scheduled for January may now be postponed and
a continued state of emergency imposed.
The World Health Organization has praised
the actions of the Ukrainian government, despite
acknowledging
that the H1N1 virus in Ukraine appears "no different there
than anywhere else" and that any surge there may be due
to a more susceptible population.
The influenza co-ordinator at the European Centre for Disease
Prevention and Control has a different opinion, however, noting
that Ukrainian authorities have "gone over the top"
with their response.
(ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW)
Charges that the crisis in Ukraine has been deliberately
hyped into hysteria continue today, with an article out of TIME,
highlighting assertions that politicians on both sides are using
the developments to attack each other in a bitter case of political
bickering.
Messages are mixed in Ukraine with Prime Minister Tymoshenko
refusing to speak in favour of the vaccine. "I am not vaccinated,"
she said in a television address this week. "I am protecting
myself like everybody, with lemon, onion, garlic, everything
that is needed. I think the best way is simply to protect your
health through well-known means."
Meanwhile, in neighbouring Poland, Prime Minister Donald Tusk
said Friday that his government won't
buy vaccines for swine flu that have not been properly
tested or from producers who won't take responsibility for possible
side effects, despite events in Ukraine.
"Today we are dealing with great pressure from pharmaceutical
firms ... we are dealing with expectations that hundreds of
millions of zlotys (dollars) will be spent on vaccine while
no one wants to guarantee that it has no side effects,"
Tusk said.
A total of 109 people have died of flu-related symptoms since
late October, according to the Health Ministry in Ukraine, however
only 14 deaths have been confirmed as a result of the H1N1 swine
flu strain.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alex
Jones LIVE, A Fourth Hour Of Streaming TV Now Added To The Infowars
Radio Show
Click here to get your subscription today!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
INFOWARS:
BECAUSE THERE'S A WAR ON FOR YOUR MIND
|
|
