Things are looking grim on the H1N1 "swine flu" vaccine misperception front. Know-nothing pundits like Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, and Bill Maher are already suggesting that the vaccine is unnecessary or dangerous. These beliefs are apparently widespread -- fewer than half of all parents are currently planning to vaccinate their children, and many of them tell interviewers that they are not worried about H1N1 (which is more dangerous for children than seasonal flu) and/or concerned about side effects (which should be no worse than any other flu vaccine).
There have been some efforts to correct these misperceptions -- for instance, the New York Times ran a FAQ on the vaccine yesterday and a myth-busting op-ed today -- but much more is needed. It's especially important to distribute correct information now before Internet sites and cable news start hyping misleading claims about reactions the vaccine.
The sad reality is that it is going to be hard to change people's minds in time to get everyone vaccinated. This outbreak is likely to be be much worse than it should have been, and it's going to cost lives. If there were ever a better case for why it's important to study how to correct misinformation, I haven't seen it.
I intend to get my swine flu vaccine ASAP. Even if the doomsday scenario turns out to be pessimistic, there's essentially no risk IMHO.
Still, I think that our government has blown much of its credibility with too many wrong-headed solutions to deal with too many wrongly projected doomsdays. E.g., the stimulus bill that worsened the economy, carbon dixoide reductions that will not cure global warming, and heath care reform that will make health care less efficient and more expensive.
Limbaugh, Beck, et. al. are in the position of the townspeople who didn't believe The Boy Who Cried Wolf when one of his warnings was finally accurate. However, the fable puts primary blame on the boy for his earlier false warnings.
So, I blame Limbaugh, Beck, et. al. for disbelieving the accurate warning about the H1N1 vaccine. However, we should also blame Gore, Obama, etc. for falsely crying wolf on many other issues.
Posted by: David | October 12, 2009 at 02:19 PM
David, has there ever been a single post on this blog that you haven't tried to put a pro-republican/anti-democratic spin on? Even the thing about the inflatable gorilla...
Posted by: jd | October 13, 2009 at 02:51 AM
There have been some, such as my response to Brendan's Oct. 5 post revisiting Obama's health care speech. But, you are mostly correct, jd.
Posted by: David | October 13, 2009 at 06:17 AM
There is a lot of missinformation even here. The regular flu shot can cause severe problems, maybe not all the time, but it CAN.. Don't just look to the cdc because s everyone knows government can down play things (Bush, Obama... everyone). The CDC has done it before with the current fight concerning Lyme Disease when there are many people with considerablee evidence that Lyme is an epidemic and that we do not detect it well... Look at the docu Under Our Skin and then look up the facts it discusses. I'm in the middle ground. The vaccine is goingto be trial and error. They are asking for people to report symtoms and therefore they do not know all the facts. It can help people but I also think everyone should look up the vaccines and know all the details for themselves and not take one person or companies opinion. It might be dangerous to some people more than we realize. There hasn't been enough of a study on it for me to trust it.
Posted by: ALi | October 16, 2009 at 01:50 PM