Health Official Says It’s Safe To Get Flu Shot
Sunday, October 28, 2012 @ 4:46 AM
Prince George, B.C. – Provincial Health Officer Dr Perry Kendall is trying to allay any concerns people may have about the suspension of Novartis influenza vaccine products.
Over the weekend Health Canada advised all health-care facilities to stop using the Novartis vaccines Agriflu and Fluad based on a suspension of use of the vaccines in Europe. The suspension is purely precautionary and is based on reports of small clumping material noticed in the vaccines in Italy.
Dr. Kendall stresses there have been no adverse effects related to these vaccines and no concerns have been seen with supplies already used in Canada, including in BC. He says “some degree of protein clumping is not uncommon in influenza vaccines. It does not usually represent any concern.” Dr. Kendall says the flu vaccine is safe and effective. He adds “people who have already been vaccinated do not have to worry. The vaccines that have been used in BC have passed Health Canada’s inspection system with no concerns.” He says if there was any adverse effect at all it would appear as a reduced immunal response, in other words you wouldn’t get the full effect of the shot. Dr. Kendall says Health Canada has advised him that it will complete its risk assessment within a few days.
He also notes Novartis supplies 30 percent of BC’s flu vaccine supply, so the majority of the province’s supply is unaffected. That 70 percent, or 800-thousand doses, comes from other manufacturers. Dr. Kendall says he is pretty confident “we will have sufficient vaccine available for anyone who wants it. We’re certainly not going to run out of it anytime in the near future.”
Dr. Kendall says he hopes this advisory does not discourage people who are at high risk of influenza complications from getting the vaccine. “Influenza can cause serious complications in those individuals and the flu vaccine does remain the best way we have at present to protect yourself and your loved ones.” He says this precautionary measure will not prevent him from getting his flu shot.
Comments
From my own perspective and experience, no thanks. I do my best to keep my immune system healthy and it has worked for me for years. The office I used to work in arranged the flu shot for all their staff. They used to drop like flies after getting the shot. Wasn’t much of a confidence booster for me.
But that is just my opinion.
The efficacy of the influenza vaccine is dubious at best in my unqualified opinion. I will never allow myself to be inoculated with these concoctions. I think it’s become more about a profit motive than it is about keeping the population healthy.
We have to all stop this silly notion that we’re going to live forever and that we can temper mother nature’s wisdom. The direct correlation between these vaccinations and serious complications and death to otherwise healthy people cannot be ignored. The risk is too great to the rest of the population to “potentially” stave off death for people in a weakened state. That’s not the way of nature and I won’t participate in it.
Arm yourself with information. Don’t just do what administrators like Dr. Kendell tell you to because they’re paid to tell you to, whether they’re true believers or not. Doctors kill 10’s of thousands of people every year with their help, prescriptions and advice. Western medicine has it’s uses when it comes to acute care, but as far as I’m concerned they get a failing grade when it comes to other types of care.
Of course people are skeptical about the flu shot.
Most don’t remember the spanish flu was attributed to about 50 million deaths about 100 years ago. You can bet people back then would have lined up around the block to get a shot if it was available. Maybe another such pandemic is on the way, who knows?
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