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Doctors say most Britons reject killer swine flu vaccine
Many of the 107 family doctors polled by Britain’s Pulse magazine said there was widespread resistance from patients and on average only 46 percent of those offered the vaccination agree to have it.
Doctors reported particular difficulties in persuading pregnant women to be vaccinated against the virus, according to Pulse, a trade newspaper for doctors.
“In all the pregnant women we’ve offered it to, I think only about one in 20 has agreed,” Dr. Chris Udenze, a family doctor based in Nottingham, central England, said in the survey.
Skepticism has been growing in Britain and other European countries about health authorities’ handling of the H1N1 pandemic because the number of people infected has been lower than originally feared.
Britain began a vaccination program on Oct. 21 for high-risk hospital patients, front-line healthcare workers, children in seasonal flu risk groups, pregnant women and people with compromised immune systems.
British health authorities have twice revised down their worst-case scenarios for H1N1 flu, which was declared a pandemic in June and has killed more than 7,000 people worldwide, according to latest data from the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control.
Original estimates that as many as 65,000 could die from H1N1 in Britain have now been cut to a prediction of around 1,000 deaths -- way below the average annual toll of 4,000 to 8,000 deaths from seasonal winter flu.
Richard Hoey, Pulse’s editor, said his survey showed that many patients, and “a substantial number of doctors” were “unconvinced there is sufficient evidence that swine flu vaccination is safe and necessary.”
US officials defend swine flu vaccination plan
US public health officials defended the distribution of swine flu vaccines on Tuesday against criticism that their plan to protect Americans was confusing and over-optimistic. As of Monday, manufacturers had delivered 48.5 million doses of H1N1 vaccine, Dr. Anne Schuchat of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told a Senate hearing. HHS had hoped to have as many as 120 million doses by now.
In September HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius had assured Congress, “There will be enough vaccines for everyone.”
The problem was worsened because the first vaccine to be available was a nasal spray made by AstraZeneca unit MedImmune that is not suitable for some of the most vulnerable groups but which is perfect for most schoolchildren and healthcare workers, officials said.
Members of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee pressed for an apology and said they felt President Barack Obama’s administration had not learned some valuable lessons from the continuing problem. “I am worried that we are undermining confidence in our public health system,” said committee chairman, Connecticut independent Sen. Joseph Lieberman. He worried that people who have waited in vain to be vaccinated against H1N1 swine flu will stop trying. Washington Reuters
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