CDC Says Older Adults Unlikely to Need Early H1N1 Vaccine
Friday October 30, 2009
The US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends that people age 65 and older do NOT get early doses of the H1N1 vaccine, for two main reasons:
- Older adults are not in the high risk group for the H1N1 virus (also known as swine flu). The CDC reports that so far in 2009, only 1.3 people out of 100,000 people age 65 or older have contracted the H1N1 virus.
- There is currently a shortage of the vaccine, and medical and government officials want to make sure there are enough H1N1 vaccine doses for people in high risk groups, including children, pregnant women and people with chronic illnesses.
Check with your doctor if you're concerned about the H1N1 virus. And for more information from the CDC, see answers to frequently asked questions about older adults and the H1N1 virus.
Hmmm, food for thought….
Is this really a case of us seniors not needing the vaccine? Or is it a case of there being a shortage of vaccine so the seniors being the less productive, and the most drag on society can be the sacrifice if worse comes to worse? Modern politics in the light here. From some of the comments I’ve been hearing, we should all be highly skeptical of the vaccine anyway, not enough time or study in the making, etc.
In other words, I’m seeing many cons, and not very many pros on the subject. It’s gotten so if the government has a hand in it, and something does go wrong, then they just ignore it or shrug their shoulders and say “Oh well.” And life goes on… or does it?
I too wonder if this is another way to get rid of the seniors. But I also am concerned about all the shots that the government wants us to take or give our kids that have not been tested very well. Yet the older drugs that are proven effective are expensive in this country and not in others such as Mexico. No, I do not trust our government either.
The comments from Kicknbak and Gloria seem to be negative because of fears, maybe justified, that the government can’t be trusted.
The fact is that people 60 and over are more likely to have been exposed to more viruses than younger children and therefore we are more likely to have developed stronger resistance to viruses in general.
That just makes plain sense.
While I don’t dispute that we seniors (I’m 63) may be subject to the prejudies you describe, at least we have this comon sense statement of fact that our bodies are more likely to have built defenses to certain virusus than a young child.
While I’d never say that government officials don’t lie or provide misleading information, I agree with Dennis on this topic. A higher than normal death rate from flu is an urgent issue, and I think if it were older people rather than younger ones the response would be the same.
Keep in mind that the CDC isn’t saying we can’t get the H1N1 vaccine, just that healthy older adults are at lower risk than other groups. Older adults with chronic illnesses are in the high risk group and should see their doctors about getting the H1N1 vaccine.
The CDC encourages all of us to get seasonal flu shots.