Swine Flu Vaccine: Will It Catch On?
Some Health Care Workers and the Public May Refuse the New Flu Vaccine for Fear of Possible Side Effects, Study Shows
WebMD News Archive
Concerns Over Vaccine Safety
For the Canadian study, Natalie Henrich, PhD, MPH, of the University of
British Columbia and doctoral student Bev Holmes at Simon Fraser University
studied 85 people in 11 focus groups in Vancouver in 2006-2007. Participants in
the Vancouver focus groups included university students, adult Canadians,
parents, and health care workers.
They found that participants seemed reluctant to get a new vaccine during a
pandemic "because of low perception of risk of infection early in a pandemic
coupled with the many uncertainties that surround new vaccines and the emerging
infectious disease." They note that "very few" said that they "would definitely
Also, “participants were very concerned that in a pandemic, a vaccine would
be brought to market without sufficient testing for safety,” the researchers
write. Many felt that hand-washing and social distancing could help prevent
But Henrich and Holmes say such steps, though worthwhile, aren’t enough, and
that the message that vaccination is important needs to be broadly
In an accompanying BMJ editorial to the Chor study, Rachel Jordan, PhD, MPH,
from the University of Birmingham, and Andrew Hayward, PhD, of the UCL Centre
for Infectious Disease Epidemiology, say the first batch of H1N1 vaccine should
be ready by October. They say it’s important for health workers to get the
vaccine for personal and patient protection and also to reduce absenteeism.
The Hong Kong researchers say more study is needed to determine the root
cause of the low intention to get vaccinated.