Call me crazy, but when a vaccine is banned in a foreign country due to its severe side effects, I expect the US media to alert the American public of the incident. After all, if children overseas are at risk, then our children at home are potentially at risk as well. As a parent, I want to know about a possible danger to my children – especially when it involves something the government and the majority of medical practitioners assures us to be completely safe.
For instance, last year Australia temporarily banned their seasonal flu vaccines after 23 children experienced convulsions and were hospitalized following their vaccination. The same year, Sweden found the Pandemrix swine flu vaccine increased the chance of children under 19 years old developing . If 400% wasn’t bad enough, Finland’s found the same vaccine increased a child’s risk of developing narcolepsy by 900%! Thankfully those countries took action and banned the vaccine for children. But why was this ban never reported in the US? Isn’t it the news media’s job to inform the public of these sorts of health dangers?
I am sure mainstream media would say since the Pandemrix vaccine was not licensed to be used in the US there was no need to report the ban. OK, maybe. But what about the Fluvax vaccine which causes a higher rate of convulsions in children? It is currently banned not only in the US, but in Europe and Australia as well.
This sort of information should be actively disseminated by the news outlets to ensure the public is aware and can take steps to keep themselves and their families safe. There should be at least as much coverage about the vaccine ban as there was about urging the public to get the vaccine in the first place, but I don’t recall a single story regarding this ban in the news. I don’t even remember seeing the ban posted in the doctor’s office during my son’s recent check-up.
Why not? Why aren’t bans and other investigations regarding adverse vaccine reactions as actively covered as the push to get people vaccinated in the first place? Are the CDC and government concerned that if bans and investigations into vaccine safety are publicly known, it will keep people from vaccinating their families? If so, shame on them! Their job is to keep us safe from harm. If there is a question about the safety of a vaccine, they should as a minimum put a temporary ban on the vaccine, pro-actively get the message out to the public and immediately start investigating to verify its safety – not tell people any illness experienced after receiving a vaccine is merely coincidence and continue administering the vaccines to everyone.
For instance, the H1N1 flu vaccine is to cause a miscarriage than regular seasonal flu vaccines according to VAERS (Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System). That statistic is something I never heard in mainstream media – but I most certainly should have! It isn’t even clear to me that the CDC and medical community are actively investigating those reports to verify the vaccine’s safety. At the very least, they should impose a ban on the H1N1 vaccine on pregnant women until they know for sure.
Instead it seems women who had a miscarriage after the H1N1 vaccine are told it is just a coincidence. Just a coincidence? How can they say that when the H1N1 vaccine was fast-tracked into production with very little testing? I remember how for several weeks the news reported this vaccine would be safe and effective since it used the same profile as the regular seasonal flu and extensive testing would not be required. There was an active media campaign trying to spread the word for everyone to get the H1N1 vaccine – even though there is not nearly enough scientifically sound testing to guarantee its safety. There is no way the CDC knows for sure that the H1N1 vaccine isn’t causing miscarriages in some pregnancy women.
If the government and the medical community really want to convince me that vaccines are safe, then they should be more open when there are problems. Show me that public safety is the highest priority by pro-actively suspending vaccines when trends of severe side effects are reported. Actively report these bans and investigations so the public is informed. Build trust by not making vaccines mandatory for everyone and give me the freedom to choose what is best for my family.
Their current mantra of “just a coincidence” and “completely safe” is not enough to convince me that vaccines live up to expectations. Until there is a more open dialog between concerned parents and pro-vaccine groups, along with an honest effort to ensure vaccine safety, I see no reason to put my trust into something that hasn’t been proven to be safe or effective.
For more additional information on vaccines, please visit the Vaccine Dangers section of this site.
