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In Germany, a Better Vaccine for Politicians?
Tristana Moore
TIME
Friday, Oct 30th, 2009
Critics are calling it a two-tier health system
— one for the politically well connected, another for
the hoi polloi. As Germany launched its mass-vaccination program
against the H1N1 flu virus on Monday, the government found itself
fending off accusations of favoritism because it was offering
one vaccine believed to have fewer side effects to civil servants,
politicians and soldiers, and another, potentially riskier vaccine
to everyone else. The government had hoped that Germans would
rush to health clinics to receive vaccinations against the rapidly
spreading disease, but now rising anger over the different drugs
may cause many people to shy away.
Amid growing fears of a possible global flu pandemic,
the German government prepared for its mass-vaccination campaign
earlier this year by ordering 50 million doses of the Pandemrix
vaccine, enough for a double dose for 25 million people, about
a third of the population. The vaccine, manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline,
contains an immunity-enhancing chemical compound, known as an
adjuvant, whose side effects are not yet entirely known. Then,
after a report was leaked to the German media last week, the
Interior Ministry confirmed that it had ordered a different
vaccine, Celvapan, for government officials and the military.
Celvapan, which is made by U.S. pharmaceutical giant Baxter,
does not contain an adjuvant and is believed to have fewer side
effects than Pandemrix.
Amid growing fears of a possible global flu pandemic,
the German government prepared for its mass-vaccination campaign
earlier this year by ordering 50 million doses of the Pandemrix
vaccine, enough for a double dose for 25 million people, about
a third of the population. The vaccine, manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline,
contains an immunity-enhancing chemical compound, known as an
adjuvant, whose side effects are not yet entirely known. Then,
after a report was leaked to the German media last week, the
Interior Ministry confirmed that it had ordered a different
vaccine, Celvapan, for government officials and the military.
Celvapan, which is made by U.S. pharmaceutical giant Baxter,
does not contain an adjuvant and is believed to have fewer side
effects than Pandemrix.
Full
article here
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