The Washington Post is running a story today, about doctors refusing to give the Swine Flu vaccine to their patients. It is a long article, so I am not posting the whole thing here, but encourage you to read it for yourself at the link provided, in the article headline.
Title of article
"The senior doctor there doesn't believe in it and doesn't want it for her patients," Soghomonian said. "I think the feeling was it's just too new."
Soghomonian's doctor is one of a small cadre of outliers who remain skeptical about the government's unprecedented immunization campaign, citing doubts about the risks presented by the H1N1 virus or the safety of the vaccine, despite the fact that no worrisome reactions have been reported.
"My feeling is that this is all being over-hyped," said Laurence J. Murphy, a pediatrician in Burke who also will not inoculate his patients. "Most people who get this virus do beautifully. I believe the vaccine hasn't been tested enough. I just think the benefit of it at this point is not outweighed by the possible risk."
Such contrarian voices, through the megaphone of cable news or in the quiet of exam rooms, have forced federal health officials to play defense as well as offense in their campaign to encourage immunization.
Public health leaders are at a loss to explain the skeptical minority, except to say that it mirrors the chronically low percentage of health-care workers who get the seasonal flu vaccine every year. Officials worry that these doubters could have a disproportionate influence in an already frustrating and confusing situation, and stress that the studies conducted so far and the intensive monitoring underway indicate that the vaccine is as safe as any flu vaccine.
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