Is resistance to H1N1 vaccine healthy?
OPINION - Rogue medical trials are rooted in black social memory in this country, so I believe it's healthy to be skeptical and to turn simple answers into critical questions on this issue.
In 1976, when President Gerald Ford was in office, there was a swine flu epidemic that was viewed at the time as though it were the new Black Death. In the late 80s, President Reagan had a pig flu scare and there was a rush to inoculate people. In 2009, Obama has H1N1 with which to contend.
Like presidents before him, Obama has put us all on high alert. He has even taken on the role of a dad-in-chief, telling us to wash our hands, cough into our sleeves and to be prepared for the outbreak this fall. It appears that the influenza virus has nine lives and creates a scare almost every decade.
The subsequent rush to immunize folks is even more anxiety-producing. In fact, the war on pig flu is being likened to the war on terror. Several school systems throughout the country have begun to provide H1N1 vaccinations and parents of New York City school children are signing vaccine consent forms this week. With New York City’s school system – the nation’s largest – being called “ground zero” for combating swine flu, city officials are hoping to vaccinate over 1 million children by the end of the year.
On one hand, this focus seems appropriate. The CDC reported that of the 292 U.S. fatalities from swine flu since September 1st, 90 percent were of people under 65-years-old. H1N1 seems to follow a different pattern than the “normal” seasonal flu, which tends to affect older people disproportionately.
On the other hand, I’m not a doctor of medicine so have no authority to give a scientific comparison of the level of danger of the swine flu strain versus the traditional influenza virus that makes thousands of people max out sick days, and takes lives every year. I saw the havoc that a strain of swine flu wreaked on Mexico last year, and was dumbfounded when watching that country’s response.
However, I am more concerned about the way in which the urgent militarized language around the swine flu and the frenzy to put the H1N1 vaccine on the market is taking root in our urban public schools, particularly in communities of color. It seems like our schools are being situated as both the epicenter of this pandemic and the combat zones to eradicate it.
In New York City, parents, especially poor and working class, were asked as late as September 2009 to volunteer their children to be vaccinated despite having been provided with little and somewhat disjointed information on what the vaccine would mean for their child’s short and long term health or even whether it should be taken with a traditional flu vaccine shot. The hysteria surrounding H1N1 coupled with trying to safeguard against it is, I fear, leading to quick solutions and less scrutiny, and poor and working class kids are powerless in the whole affair.
Ironically, even with the push to get kids inoculated, there are serious questions about whether cities will even have enough vaccine to provide to all school children. The pharmaceutical companies were only able to create enough vaccine for a few million people. So at some point soon, demand will eventually outstrip supply. This raises questions for me about whether this is a real attempt to stem the tide of swine flu or to conduct trial runs. Is this about prevention or profit? Rogue medical trials are rooted in black social memory in this country, so I believe it’s healthy to be skeptical and to turn simple answers into critical questions on this issue.
The reality is that more accessible information needs to be out there in order for parents to make informed and careful decisions about their child’s health as it relates to the swine flu vaccination, or any school administered vaccination. Letters sent to parents in the 11th hour are not sufficient. Our children deserve and are worth more than that.
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