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One in two GPs 'will refuse swine flu vaccine'
24 Aug 09
Exclusive: Nearly half of GPs have decided to not be vaccinated against swine flu once a jab becomes available in the autumn.
A snapshot survey of GPs conducted by Pulse found that 56 of the 115 GPs surveyed said they did not intend to receive the jab.
Last week chief medical officer Sir Liam Donaldson announced GPs and frontline healthcare workers would be given top priority in the queue for the swine flu vaccine.
Sir Liam Donaldson vowed to vaccinate healthcare staff by Christmas at the latest, in order to keep working during the expected second wave of the swine flu – which is expected to be more severe in the winter with a worst case scenario of 65,000 deaths according to Department of Health modelling.
But the Pulse poll shows the extent of the reluctance amongst GPs to have the jab. Of the 115 GPs surveyed, 56 said they did not intend to be vaccinated, 48 said they would have the jab when it was available, and 11 were undecided.
It comes as public opinion appears to be swaying in the face of continuing concern over the safety of the vaccine.
A study published in the journal Emerging Health Threats found parents may refuse to get immunised or vaccinate their children against a pandemic virus if they believe the risks of a novel vaccine outweigh the benefits.
The Canadian researchers conducted 11 focus groups and found the public would be reluctant to get vaccinated against an illness perceived as mild, and were ‘very concerned’ that a vaccine would be rushed through without sufficient testing for safety.
Readers' comments
This is pretty serious and I think Pulse should be more careful here. We do not know what questions you asked, how you selected the GPs, what the breakdown of responses are. Without this info, it is pretty difficult to assess the significance of what you have done. In the meantime, we get alarmist headlines in the Daily Mail based on this: "Half of GPs refuse swine flu vaccine over testing fears"
This was a quick email survey which simply asked: Do you plan to have the swine flu vaccine yourself? It was sent to several hundred GPs who weren't selected apart from the fact that they are all known Pulse readers. We didn't press release the results, but the national newspapers do closely monitor our website and I did provide a comment for a Daily Mail reporter. I would agree that the survey was relatively small, but it was the third such survey in the last week to find that healthcare professionals are likely to refuse swine flu vaccination in fairly large numbers. A peer-reviewed study in Hong Kong has found the same thing. Richard Hoey Editor, Pulse
Of course its not just GPs who have expressed reticence about having the swine flu jab - nurses, pharmacists and other health professionals have also done so. The common fear seems to be being subjected to a rapidly developed vaccine where the safety profile is not established through sufficient testing. The resulting question is - if they are not prepared to have it themselves - will their consciences allow them to give it to patients?
I do not intend to be vaccinated, nor will I recommend vaccination to patients. It is untested, and unnecessary. It is time doctors started thinking for themselves instead of mindlessly obeying the Department of Health because they are terrified of missing out on free money.
I have COPD and ME/CFS, both severe. The latter reacts badly to the annual flu vaccine, and I have yet to recover fully from the pneumonia vaccine I was persuaded to have in the summer. Last winter I instituted a campaign of simply staying away from places where people gather in large numbers, especially public transport, and I had the healthiest winter for many years. I intend to do the same this year, with swine flu, plus barrier measures should it actually become serious (compared to the depredations of annual flu it's currently pretty minor). Even now, the swine flu vaccine is too much of an unknown quantity for me to take the risk.