Shot down We've talked numerous times in both the eTips and in Nutrition & Healing about the flu vaccine and how it's hardly the best option available for fighting influenza. Still, health authorities continue to shove it down our throats year in and year out. Until now, though, the choice has been ours as to whether or not we subject ourselves -- or our families -- to an annual flu shot. But that all could change very quickly. In fact, one state is already doing its best to have its way with the health of its citizens -- starting with a group that can't even vote to protect itself: preschool children. In December, the New Jersey Public Health Council voted on a ruling that would require all children entering daycare or preschool to get the flu vaccine prior to enrollment. They insist that this would "limit the disease, decrease hospitalization and prevent death," since children are "the best transmitters of influenza virus." The article I read included only a single blurb commenting on protests by parents and doctors who oppose the shots. The remainder of the article talked about how dangerous the flu can be and why New Jersey health officials think children are the best candidates for mandatory vaccination. Hardly an unbiased account if you ask me. What about the potential risks involved with the flu vaccine? What about the fact that numerous studies have shown that the vaccine doesn't even work that well? What about the fact that -- and this is my personal favorite -- according to a study conducted by UCLA and Harvard researchers, less than 40 percent of health care workers opted to get a flu shot last year? That's right -- the same people telling all of us that we need an annual flu vaccine told the researchers that they do not believe the flu shot works and that they are concerned about side effects. So, what, exactly, makes it okay for us to subject children to the same unproven, potentially harmful vaccine? The sad and frightening truth is that it likely comes down to supply and demand: Despite recent shortage scares, the supply of flu shots is starting to outweigh demand for them. And who better to unload the surplus on than those who not only don't know better, but often don't get a say in their own health care decisions to begin with. The final decision to mandate flu shots for all New Jersey children rests with the state health commissioner, Fred Jacobs. I encourage you to write and call his office to let him know your own opinion on the flu shot and mandatory vaccination programs, particularly ones that prey on children. You can send an email via the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services website by visiting www.state.nj.us/health/feedback.shtml or send a letter to P.O. Box 360, Trenton, NJ 08625-0360. Source:
"A proposal to require flu vaccines for preschool," The New York Times (www.nytimes.com), 12/9/07 "Influenza Vaccination and Health Care Workers in the United States," Journal of General Internal Medicine 2006; 21(2): 181-184 | 
