Polls: Half Of Doctors Will Refuse To Take Swine Flu Shot

Healthcare workers revolt against vaccination while government plans mass immunization programmes.

Steve Watson Infowars.net Tuesday, August 25, 2009 Two separate polls of GPs in Britain have revealed that one in two doctors have severe reservations over the safety of the forthcoming H1N1 flu vaccine, raising serious questions over the government's planned mass vaccination programme. A poll of doctors for Pulse magazinefound that 49% would reject the vaccine with 9% still undecided. 56 of the 115 GPs surveyed said they did not intend to receive the jab, according to the UK's leading medical weekly publication for health professionals. A second poll conducted by GP magazine reveals that Up to 60% of GPs have severe doubts over the proposed vaccine. Of 216 GPs surveyed, 29% say they will outright refuse to be vaccinated, while a further 29% remain unsure. Only 41% of doctors said they would definitely take the shot. Of those who said they would not take the shot, 71% said they were concerned that the vaccine had "not been through sufficient trials to guarantee its safety". Over half, 50.4%, said they "believe that swine flu is too mild to justify taking the vaccine". The Department of Health sought to dismiss the results, declaring that the small number of responders to the surveys was not reflective of the opinions of all doctors. However, these figures also dovetail with those from a much larger Nursing Timesmagazine poll, that revealed 30% of all NHS nurses said they would refuse to be immunized, with another 33% saying they were unsure. Of the 30% of nurses who said they would refuse to be vaccinated, 60% said the reason was due to fears about the safety of the vaccine, following revelations that the shots will contain mercury and squalene and have also been linked with the killer nerve disease Guillain-Barre Syndrome. Another 31% said they would refuse the vaccine because they did not consider the risk from swine flu to be great enough. The government has promised to vaccinate all health workers before Christmas at the latest, to deal with what it has described as the "second wave" of swine flu. The vaccine is being rushed through safety procedures while the government has provided pharmaceutical companies with blanket immunity from lawsuits arriving out of the vaccine causing deaths and injuries. Richard Hoey, editor of Pulse told the Daily Mail "The view among many doctors is that the Government hasn't yet made its case for why such a huge vaccination programme needs to be rushed in for what seems to be an unusually mild illness." Yet another new study, published in the Canadian journal Emerging Health Threats, found that the public also has grave reservations over the forthcoming vaccination campaign. Parents and health-care workers are reluctant to be immunized or vaccinate their children against a pandemic virus for fear that a drug would be brought to market with insufficient testing, reports the Globe and Mail. The study, which used a number of focus groups to establish the likely response of different people to a vaccine, concluded that people who believe alternative therapies and a good diet are a better option than vaccines need to be "won over". It is highly disturbing that one in two doctors have concerns over the safety of vaccines while the shots are being actively tested on members of the public, including children. Since it is now clear that the majority of the population will refuse to take the vaccine, it seems that the government’s only option will be to institute a mandatory program backed by force, or to drop plans for mass vaccination altogether.