For those of you who don’t recognize the photo next to John Edwards,
that’s Sam Neil playing Damien in Omen 3.
Giselle and I are recovering from a cold. Well actually G’s recovered,
and I’m recovering from the cold I caught from G. Which got me thinking about this whole flu-shot scare because G’s mom
was reminding her to get her flu shot (G has diabetes, so is in the high-risk group). I say scare because it’s all hype.
Chiron the British company that was to supply the US with 48 million
doses, had to destroy most of the vaccine they made this year because
the FDA and British regulators was concern about the quality of this
year’s batch (flu vaccine is made using chicken eggs and the eggs can
get contaminated by bacteria). Because it takes months to ‘brew’ more
vaccine their shipment would come too late for our ‘Flu Season’.
Now the media is reporting that we are in a crisis because there ‘Isn’t
enough flu shots’. So now people are panicking and lining up early to
get their flu shots because they’re worried there won’t be enough!
But what the media often failed to report is that in most years the US
uses far less than all of the flu vaccine available. Typically millions
of doses of flu vaccine are thrown away (they have a limited shelf
life) because they go unused! Even during last year’s Fujian flu
scare, there was 84 million flu vaccine doses available but millions of
doses went unused. Currently there are 50 million doses available this
year!
And one more thing, flu-shots don’t guarantee you won’t get the flu.
What?! Yes. That’s because the flu-shot only inoculates you from the
most common strain of LAST YEAR’s flu. But the flu (the Influenza
virus) mutates constantly. That’s why there’s a new strain every year.
If this year’s flu is a markedly different type then you’re just as
screwed as somebody who didn’t have a flu-shot.
So please tell your neighbors and grandparents to chill. There’s more
than enough flu-vaccine to go around. There was before.
If we want to reduce the flu. Lets just all get sufficient rest, cover
our mouths (with tissue or a hanky) when we sneeze, and wash our hands
often. And if you’re feeling like you’re coming down with something,
don’t be a trooper and go into work. You’re just making the rest of us
sick.
You can read more about the causes for the flu vaccine shortage and why
it’s the FDA and lawsuits that keep more vaccine from being available
here in the US: