“You may choose to look the other way, but you can never say again that you did not know.”
— William Wilberforce
Story Highlights More than 80 people have died in South Korea following influenza vaccination. After an investigation into the safety of the vaccines, South Korean health authorities ruled the deaths as “coincidental.” The public health agency in South Korea has decided to continue and promote its free influenza vaccine program despite public anxiety relating to […]
Opinion | Ever since the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) began recommending that all Americans six months of age and older get an annual flu shot, it’s been touted as the best method of preventing influenza. While it’s true that influenza is a highly infectious airborne disease, controversy exists over the use […]
His story starts in the same place it almost ended, a hospital where doctors treated him for pneumonia in 2014. When I was being discharged, the nurse said, oh, hey, by the way, you need a flu shot. He says that flu shot nearly killed him, causing Guillain-Barré Syndrome. The pain was just massive. A […]
Story Highlights Hundreds of health care workers in Massachusetts are declining the annual flu shot. Health care worker flu shot requirements vary from state to state. A recent study questions the scientific validity of mandating annual influenza vaccinations for hospital workers. Hundreds of health care workers in Massachusetts, including those in nursing homes and kidney […]
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a supplemental Biologics License Application (BLA) for the Fluzone high-dose quadrivalent influenza vaccine for use by adults 65 years of age and older. Fluzone is manufactured by Sanofi Pasteur, Inc. of France.1 2 The Fluzone high-dose influenza vaccine was approved by the FDA in 2009 as […]
Just as publicity about the need for everyone to get a flu shot ramps up, there are signs that the influenza vaccine for this “flu season” (2019-2020) may be even less effective this year than last year. The strains of the influenza virus selected by the World Health Organization (WHO) and U.S. health officials for […]
Opinion | Flu season is creeping up on us again and there are widespread calls to get your annual flu shot, despite the fact that, year after year, this strategy turns out to have an abysmal rate of effectiveness across the board. One group that consistently turns out to draw the short end of the stick […]
I recently ran across a sign in a CVS drugstore offering money to encourage people to get the influenza vaccine. The sign read: “Flu season has arrived! Get your flu vaccine today! Visit Pharmacy for details! -Receive $5 off $25 coupon! *Avoid the Sniffles!” Apart from the excessive use of exclamation points, the sign caught […]
On Sept. 19, 2019, President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order, “Modernizing Influenza Vaccines in the United State to Promote National Security and Public Health.” Describing mass use of influenza vaccines “to combat seasonal flu” and influenza pandemics as “strengthening our Nation’s public health and security,” he announced the establishment of a National Influenza Vaccine […]
Rachel Bruno of Orange County, California won a $500,000 settlement in December 2018 from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office (LACSO) involving a case where her 20-month-old son David was removed from his grandparents’ home by Orange County Child Protective Services (CPS) and, reportedly, given a “full body medical test and 13 vaccines without a […]