Officials Gone Wild!

Officials Gone Wild!

Local governments are out of control!

This past November I told you about a Maryland state’s attorney who threatened parents with jail time if they didn’t report to the county courthouse and explain why their children had not received required vaccines. The parents had the option of bringing their kids along to receive whatever vaccinations they were lacking – in spite of the fact that multiple vaccinations given without individual medical screening increases risk of adverse reactions.

Perhaps that bullying “get tough” style inspired New Jersey health officials who have boldly decided to force flu shots on kids as young as six months.

No kidding. This is a trend taking shape. And it’s madness.

Your mandatory flu shot

Last month, New Jersey became the first state to require flu shots and pneumonia vaccines for all children who attend preschool or licensed day care centers. This makes New Jersey the first government anywhere to mandate flu shots for any of its citizens.

Unfortunately, it appears there’s more to come.

In the wake of the New Jersey action, CDC officials say they will attempt to make the vaccines mandatory for preschoolers in all other states. Keep in mind that the CDC promotes the flu vaccine every year with all the zeal of a high-powered advertising agency.

An Associated Press report notes that a pending bill in the New Jersey legislature would allow parents to submit a “philosophical objection” to waive required vaccines for their children. But this bill has been “sitting in a committee without action for several years.”

Gee – you think they sort of put that one on the back burner?

But all of this is definitely a front burner issue for the New Jersey Alliance for Informed Choice in Vaccination (NJAICV). An “Action Alert,” sent out by NJAICV officials offers these details that might make any parent start thinking about philosophical objections:

• There is no clear evidence that the flu shot provides any health benefit for children under the age of two
• The first time a flu shot is given, two doses are required
• The EPA safe limit of mercury is .1 microgram (that’s ZERO.1) per 2.2 pounds of body weight, but a flu shot contains 25 micrograms of mercury, so the mercury level from two doses of the shot is perfectly safe for a child who weighs well over 1,000 pounds
• Prevnar, the pneumonia vaccine, is prone to adverse side effects and has been linked to the development of antibiotic-resistant strains of pneumonia bacteria

Boost those sales!

Like the pneumonia vaccine, the flu shot has its share of ugly side effects.

Michele Cagan, who writes the HSI On the Spot blog that appears on our web site (hsionline.com), did some digging and found some very troubling information on the FDA’s vaccine adverse events reporting system.

Here are some of the highlights (or rather, lowlights) from VAERS regarding adverse reactions in children under the age of six who received the flu shot or the nasal version of the vaccine over the past year (keep in mind, these are only the numbers that were actually reported):

• Number of adverse events reported: 272
• Number of emergency room visits required: 129
• Number of hospitalizations: 64
• Number of life-threatening events: 4
• Number of deaths: 5 And you can be certain that most or all of those numbers will rise now that the vaccine is mandatory in New Jersey. But don’t expect to hear about this inconvenient downside from the mainstream media. On the contrary, we’re more likely to hear how wonderfully successful the program is.

So what’s next? Mandatory flu shots for ALL school children? That’ll move a lot of units and make the CDC happy! Then how about mandatory flu shots for all state employees and their families? And then all federal employees and their families? And then?

See how easy it is to sell a potentially dangerous drug? All you do is make it mandatory!

I hope you’ll read Michele’s entire eye-opening posting about this issue, titled “New Jersey, Even Worse” (12/17/07), which you can find on her blog at this link: http://www.hsionline.com/redir/blog.html

Sources:
“NJ Requires Flu Shots for Preschoolers” Linda A. Johnson, Associated Press, 12/14/07, ap.org
“Act Now to Step Four New Mandatory Vaccines for New Jersey’s Children Including Mercury Containing Flu Shots for Children as Young as 6 Months!” Action Alert, New Jersey Alliance for Informed Choice in Vaccination, December 2007, njaicv.org