A new Harvard Poll

December 22, 2009  |   Posted in Blog, Chronic Illness   |   0 Comments   Tags: Infectious Diseases, swine flu, vaccination, vaccine

There is a new Harvard survey published today with good news and bad.

The good news is that three quarters of the parents who have wanted the H1N1 vaccine for their children have found it. With millions of doses coming each week now, that percentage should approach 100% soon enough. Any family in Guilford wanting H1N1 vaccine (or seasonal vaccine for that matter) need only ask their own doctor or schedule an appointment with the Guilford County Department of Public Health or come to our open vaccine clinics on 7 January.

The bad news is that 60% of parents who don’t expect to get the vaccine for the their children are holding out because of concerns about the safety of the vaccine.

1. The vaccine is identical to the seasonal influenza vaccines that have been given since World War II. There aren’t any mysteries about it.

2. CDC and FDA have been monitoring adverse events with this vaccine very closely. There aren’t any surprises with the H1N1 vaccine.

3. It is highly protective against the H1N1 virus, that has already killed young healthy children.

But those are just dry facts. My children got vaccinated.

I encourage you to get an H1N1 vaccine as well.