The Flu Vaccine Cometh Earlier

Hi Everybody,

The debate over the Flu Vaccine is ongoing and emotional from both sides. As always, we want to remind you that we believe there is a time and place for everything, including vaccines, medications and surgeries. But the flu vaccine is one area we feel is mostly profit, not good medicine.

WHY THE FLU VACCINE DRIVE STARTED EARLIER THIS YEAR- Evidently, this year has been declared a low risk year for the flu. Usually flu vaccine sales are boosted tremendously by the fear and hype over catching the flu. Hordes of people, upon hearing that a bad flu is coming, storm pharmacies and other stores carrying the vaccine. This leads to big business. Last year vaccines in general generated $28 billion. Every year that number has risen.

But with this year being declared a low risk year for the flu, profits will obviously be lower. Less flu means less income for the Pharmaceutical companies and the millions of drugs stores, department stores and other shops that make a significant portion of their income from vaccine sales. In order to increase profits, the flu vaccine manufacturers and their sellers have decided to start the vaccine push earlier, hoping it will make up for the lack of demand.

FREE FLU VACCINES?- As mentioned, the pharmacies and other businesses make a significant portion of their income off of flu vaccines. You may be wondering how that is so when they give flu vaccines away for free so often.

The answer is that the vaccines are not free. For every vaccine the store gives out, they keep track of them and get paid by the federal government who takes the bill out of taxpayers money. These shops are not giving the vaccines away for free, they are making tremendous profits. The more they vaccinate the higher their profit.

This profit incentive is evidently causing trouble between employers and employees in shops that sell or “give away” vaccines. Evidently, employees of many pharmacies, most notably Walgreens, are claiming harassment over the vaccine push. Employees are claiming harassment by employers who want them to push the vaccines aggressively. They are also claiming to be rewarded with incentives or threatened with reprimands if they meet or do not meet a certain sales goal.

HOW EFFECTIVE IS THE FLU VACCINE?- By all accounts the flu vaccine does not seem to be that effective at all. In the latest study we have seen, which backs up the results of many other studies that have come out recently, it was found that the vaccine may possibly help 1 in 50 to 1 in 100 of vaccinated individuals. This basically comes to a 1-2% rate of effectiveness.

In addition, this estimate was deemed to be exaggerated, as the research committed was filled with pharmaceutical companies with an interest in the outcome of the studies. (“Vaccines for preventing influenza in healthy adults”. Cochrane Database of Systemactic Reviews, 2010, Issue 7)

In a related issue, more and more people are going public with side effects they feel they have gotten from the flu vaccine. To their frustration, the pharmaceutical and medical industry, in many cases, refuse to acknowledge the problems they have now acquired. As a result, there has been a new uprising and public outcry against the flu vaccine, asking for more honest marketing, including real rates of effectiveness and realistic expectations of side-effects.

Hope this helps,
Dr Matt and Dr Robin (email)

This weeks bit of useless information: The average American eats four pounds of artificial flavorings, colorings and preservatives per year.


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