Europeans Reject Swine Flu Vaccine Danes, Finns, Germans, French, Spanish, Belgians,
Dutch all refusing to roll sleeves up despite government,
media pressure
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
