Why some healthcare workers and others are refusing swine flu vaccine

It would seem that the swine flu vaccine is on its way to healthcare workers and children, according to www.Foxnews.com . There are even some schools that have distributed information packets to parents in an effort to convince them to give permission for their children to be vaccinated right there at the school.

The fast-tracked vaccine has been a source of controversy for many, especially when the state of New York mandated its healthcare workers to get the vaccine or they'd lose their jobs. There are even healthcare facilities in other states that are insisting that their healthcare workers get the vaccine. But its not just the fast-tracked and inadequate testing that had the New York healthcare professionals carrying picket signs of protest.

Most swine flu vaccines include thimerosal mercury. Though the FDA allegedly stopped licensing other vaccines with thimerosal except those with trace amounts, they do not clearly explain why. However, there have been arguments from other sources that thimerosal mercury causes autism in children. One such organization is www.nationalautismassociation.org

Another additive that healthcare workers are calling dangerous which is in the swine flu vaccine is squalene. According to a Daily Mail article, "squalene, a naturally occurring enzyme, could potentially cause so-far-undiscovered side effects." The article also quoted Dr. Tom Jefferson of Cochrane Collaboration as saying, "none of the studies we’ve extracted have any research on it (squalene) at all."

Drug companies stand to make billions off the vaccine according to a Financial Times article. And they even get to double dip because not only did the US purchase 195 million doses with the taxpayer money over the summer, but also healthcare providers can charge a fee to those who receive the vaccine.

Interestingly, www.CNN.com reported over the summer that Defense Secretary Robert Gates was asked to sign an "executive order" which would empower the military to, "establish regional teams of military personnel to assist civilian authorities in the event of a significant outbreak of the H1N1 virus this fall." It would be even more intriguing to know what’s meant by ‘assist,’ and in what way the military would go about assisting civilian authorities — whoever those civilian authorities are.