VACCINATION against swine flu has started in the US and will soon begin in Europe, but many of those who should be first in line are having second thoughts.
Healthcare workers are a top priority for vaccination because they can infect vulnerable people and because their services are vital in a pandemic. Yet in a last week, 47 per cent said they would not get vaccinated. Meanwhile, will have the shot. In the US, many hospital employees are protesting against rules saying they must be vaccinated or lose their jobs.
鈥淚n a survey of UK nurses, 47 per cent said they would not get vaccinated, up from 31 per cent in August鈥�
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Children are also at the top of the vaccine list; in the US summer outbreak, the age group most hospitalised was . Yet say they won鈥檛 vaccinate their kids, according to a poll by the University of Michigan.
Many parents and health workers argue that swine flu is not dangerous enough to justify the potential side effects of a vaccine, but this week there were fresh warnings that the virus can cause serious illness. In and respectively, 17 per cent and 41 per cent of people admitted to intensive care with the virus have died. In Mexico, half had no underlying health problems; in Canada 70 per cent had no major illness beforehand.