The government's $16
million propaganda drive to persuade Americans
to get the swine flu vaccine and to erase public skepticism
over the safety of immunizations is now in full flow, with Sebelius
appearing on almost every major news network today.
Sebelius attempted to dispel skepticism over the vaccine by calling
it "safe and secure" and declaring that it "has
been made exactly the same way seasonal vaccine has been made,
year in and year out."
That is exactly the problem, however, given that
authorisation for both the GlaxoSmithKline and Novartis vaccines
was fast tracked based on research using "mock up"
bird flu (H5N1) vaccines dating from 2007 and 2008.
When asked on CNN to respond to several nationwide
polls indicating that Americans do not trust the
vaccine because it has been rushed
through safety procedures, Sebelius said that it
was "targeted specifically at the H1N1 virus", despite
the fact that the pharmaceutical
companies themselves admit that there is “no
clinical experience in the elderly, in children or in adolescents"
with their new vaccines.
In a CBS interview on The Early Show,
Sebelius stated that the government's initial target was to
vaccinate "about half the population".
Many Americans will remain wary, however, due
to the fact that the government has provided pharmaceutical
companies with blanket
immunity from lawsuits arriving out of the vaccine
causing deaths and injuries.
According to the New
York Times, this involves "responding rapidly"
to news stories linking the vaccines to heart attacks, strokes,
seizures, spontaneous miscarriages and the severe nerve disease
Guillain-Barré
Syndrome.
The move mirrors that of the British government, which sent
a confidential letter to senior neurologists in
August telling them to be on the alert for cases of Guillain-Barré,
which could be triggered by the vaccine.
During the CBS interview with Sebelius she was also asked about
concerns
doctors have over the nasal flu mist actually contributing
to the spread of the virus, due to the fact that it contains
live H1N1 virus.
She did not say anything regarding those concerns and instead
moved straight on to talking about the injectible vaccines.
The injectible H1N1 shots, which Sebelius says will become
available by the end of this week and be shipped out to 90,000
pre-determined sites across the country, will contain mercury
and squalene,
adjuvants linked to Guillain-Barré,
which killed more people than the actual flu virus the last
time a pandemic was declared in 1976.
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has 