Is it going to be mandatory that everyone be given the Swine Flu vaccine?
I just read something about how the WHO (World Health Organization) has issued an alert that the swine flu vaccine be made mandatory. Is this true? Is the government really going to be forced into forcing people to take this vaccine?
7 Responses
Kayla W
13 Feb 2010
L
13 Feb 2010
no just the sheep
Amauri R
13 Feb 2010
HMMM THIS HASNT BEEN DONE IN THE PAST BUT YES YES PEOPLE HAD TO GET THEIR SMALLPOX VACCINE POLIO VACCINE SO YES IT IS TRUE THIS HAS BEEN DONE IN THE PASS BUT NOT FOR A FLU !!!!!
"s.d"
13 Feb 2010
there is no swine flu-vac yet.
Underground ligh
13 Feb 2010
No- not unless Obama makes another poor choice.
Steptoe
13 Feb 2010
Where did you read that? It’s impossible to make the vaccine mandatory. I think what the WHO is saying is that the vaccine should be available for anybody who wants it because their major concern is that poor countries wont have access to it.
Don’t worry, they can’t force you to take the vaccine and many millions of people wont be taking it I’m sure.
Reeves
13 Feb 2010
The WHO is worried that the swine flu could become another 1918-type flu pandemic, and they have their reasons for being concerned. Usually the flu kills the elderly and the very young, but this virus tends to kill in the 20-50 age range (as the 1918 virus did).
Thus, the WHO is recommending that young adults be immunized, especially students (who are in classrooms and dorms — close contact allows the virus to spread rapidly).
I will make sure my two college-age sons and my my high-school son are all immunized. It is the smart thing to do, whether the government "requires" it or not. I bet people would have given anything for a vaccine in 1918.
As far as I know, the government cannot enforce a mandatory vaccination law, unless you plan on using certain public services (like public school).
Though schools require a student to have certain vaccinations to attend, a person can get around it if they claim it violates their religious freedom, etc. Also, if the parents home-school their children, they are not forced to get their children vaccinated.
It would be very irresponsible to force the entire population to be vaccinated with a vaccine that has not been extensively studied yet(i.e. long term effects). Thousands of people die every year from complications of the "regular" flu vaccine.
The swine flu is no more dangerous than the regular flu and it is treated in the same manner as the regualr flu. Whenever they do make a well-tested vaccine, only the poeple in the high risk categories need to get one (i.e. elderly, children, health care workers, etc), and even then it should not be mandatory.