H1N1 Scare, Politics and Vaccine Fears

The progression in the H1N1 pandemic story has fascinated me. We went from panic to complaisance, then back to a more earnest form of panic: huge line-ups to get the vaccine. Much to my amazement, through all of this our various governments, federal and provincial, have stuck to their guns and performed quite well. The Liberals' recently attempted to cast the federal government in a negative light in this matter -- presumably hoping to profit from some understandable frustrations in how the vaccination program is unfolding -- is merely one more failed attempt on their part to latch onto an issue, any issue, that will elevate their and their leader's public standing.

It seemed that while H1N1 was only killing the elderly and the sickly, public sentiment became little more than a collective shrug once the flu-season ended in the spring. In that light, and the typically moderate symptoms suffered by almost all that have been infected, the continuing pressure from the government on the pharmaceutical industry to prepare for a mass vaccination program had the appearance of gross incompetence, and needlessly expense. When the unfortunate deaths of otherwise healthy children occurred recently, the potential seriousness of the threat became very real for most of us.

H1N1 is not killing a disproportionately higher number of people than other strains of the virus, yet there is the danger that it could. Since it more aggressively attacks the respiratory system and is highly contagious, there is an opportunity for a deadly mutation to turn the pandemic into at least a minor catastrophe. Or, it might not.

Either way, the risk of taking the vaccine is lower than the risk of not taking it. Even if you do wish to take the risk with your own health, there is the matter of whether you want to risk the health of others with whom you come in contact if and when you do become infected (rough predictions say 25% to 35% of us will eventually get infected, though not all will get sick).

However, rather than repeat what is said better elsewhere, what I want to say is that the point about supposed vaccine risks is becoming moot. When children started dying, the public mood changed. Now the trend is pro-vaccination. It seems that while we had the luxury of time to sit back and pontificate without expertise, avoiding the vaccine was a valid form of personal expression. Now it isn't. H1N1 kills in modest numbers among the healthy and affluent, kills more among the poor and sick, and could mutate to kill indiscriminately. That knowledge may now be enough to quell the evidence-free tirades against vaccination. I hope this trend will seep into other conversations about the supposed risks of vaccinations for other diseases. It should.