Safety fears over swine flu vaccine
Updated
China has begun rolling out its voluntary swine flu vaccination program, with authorities encouraging those most at risk to take part. As winter approaches, the program aims to cover about five per cent of the population. But a new survey shows there's widely held safety concerns, and about half of those surveyed do not want the vaccine.
Presenter: Lily Yan
Speakers: Li Jun, Shanghai businessman; Feng Ye, paediatrician, Nanjing Children's Hospital; Vivian Tan, World Health Organisation, China
- Listen:
- Windows Media
YAN: Since the outbreak of H1N1 earlier this year China has reported more than 33-thousand cases, and four deaths.
And as the northern hemisphere moves into winter, medical authorities are warning of the risk of another outbreak.
But when asked if they will take advantage of a national swine flu vaccination program, many Chinese people shake their heads.
Li Jun is a businessman and a father of a 12-year-old from Shanghai.
LI: I don't think I will consider it, not for my child either because I feel the vaccine was created in such a hurry, it must have some flaws. High quality can only come from dedicated time and effort.
YAN: China has been hit by a series of food and medicine scandals in recent years, notably last year's melamine milk scandal in which thousands of babies were hospitalised.
But Mr Li says it's not these incidents that affect his decision, but rather the short testing period of the vaccine.
LI: It's not what happened in the past that makes me worry now. I just think it's too quick. Of course when the disease first emerged, the government was under pressure to develop the vaccine as soon as possible. It's the same for any country - even if the vaccine is from the US or Australia, I would still be worried."
YAN: And a new survey shows many others in China share Mr Li's sentiment.
A poll, conducted by China Daily and Sohu.com, shows about half of the 2,000 respondents say they would not take the vaccine because of safety concerns.
Some medical professionals think their worry is justified, including Feng Ye, a paediatrician from Nanjing Children's Hospital.
YE: Of course, people will worry about its quality. All medicine should go through rigorous checking and testing, and years of experiment. But this one has been developed so quickly, no wonder people are worried. Even if it doesn't have many short term side-effects, who knows what the impact will be in the long term?"
But Vivian Tan from the World Health Organisation in China says these concerns are not well grounded.
TAN: But I think what has not been very clear is that this current H1N vaccine is actually produced based on existing technology and it's a process that has been used in seasonal flu vaccine production for several decades. So it is a tried and tested process and the flu vaccine in general is on of the safest vaccines that we have used.
YAN: Ms Tan says the vaccine developed in China has been tested extensively and is safe to use.
TAN: Well in the case of China, I believe they have already done field trials or clinical trials with more than 12,000 people and this is a really large scale compared to say other countries around the world.
YAN: She says it's quite common that people have this reaction towards a new medicine. But she's encouraging those most at risk, including the very young and elderly people, to receive the shot.
TAN: Already we're seeing an increase in the number of cases in the northern hemisphere as winter approaches, so this is a preemptive move to try to vaccinate high risk groups. It's not just about protecting yourself, it's also about protecting other people, because if you are immune to H1N1, then the people around you will not get it from you.
YAN: So far China has vaccinated more than 300,000 people under the program.
