ANOTHER Epic Fail for Influenza Vaccine by Barbara Loe Fisher from NVIC

ANOTHER Epic Fail for Influenza Vaccine  

by Barbara Loe Fisher

Here we are in the winter of 2015 and U.S. public health officials admit that the historically ineffective influenza vaccine is once again an epic fail.

Flu Vaccine Effectiveness Measured from 0 to 62 Percent

In the past three flu seasons, the CDC has claimed the flu vaccine's overall effectiveness clocked in at between 47 and 62 percent while some experts have measured it at 0 to 7 percent. Other studies suggest that when children get a flu shot every year it can interfere with healthy immune responses and make them more likely to get influenza in certain flu seasons.

  Read this referenced commentary, watch a video and make a comment here.

Mississippi Parents Back Vaccine Exemption Bill

Today, Mary Jo Perry, co-director of Mississippi Parents for Vaccine Rights and NVIC's Mississippi state advocacy director, is joining with parents in the state Capitol (Jackson) to support legislation (HB 130) introduced on Jan. 6, 2015 to  provide parents with a conscientious belief vaccine exemption and a more flexible medical exemption for children. Mississippi is one of two states which only allows a medical vaccine exemption.


Read the NVIC Action Alert and learn more about the MS vaccine bill and bills that may be pending in YOUR state by signing up to be a user of the NVIC Advocacy Portal today. Watch a 30-minute Mississippi Public Broadcasting Television report discussing the vaccine exemption debate that includes interviews with Mary Jo Perry and Barbara Loe Fisher.

Proposed Changes Restrict  

Vaccine Reaction Reporting

by Theresa Wrangham

In September 2014 Centers for Disease Control (CDC) officials informed federal vaccine advisory committees of proposed changes to the form used by doctors and consumers to file vaccine reaction reports with the Vaccine Averse Event Reporting System (VAERS). CDC officials want all vaccine reactions, hospitalizations, injuries and deaths to be filed electronically so vaccine adverse event reporting to VAERS becomes a completely "paperless" process.

Vaccines can cause mild to severe reactions that leaves vaccine recipients with life-long brain and immune system disorders, disabilities or result in death. The current VAERS reporting form allows the public to submit vaccine reaction reports by phone, fax, mail and online.

   Read this article, make a comment and learn how you can join NVIC in opposing restriction of vaccine reaction reporting here.

Share Your Vaccine Reaction, Failure and Harassment Experiences on NVIC.org

Please take a few moments to report your own vaccine reaction, failure and harassment experiences to NVIC so we can post them on NVIC.org, share them with others, and collect information to help educate the public and advocate for reform of vaccine policies and laws in the U.S.

It is easy to make a report to NVIC through the online reporting forums on NVIC.org:

   NVIC Vaccine Reaction Registry

   NVIC Vaccine Failure Wall

   NVIC Vaccine Freedom Wall

In the News

New Rule on Vaccines Unlikely to Help with Compliance. Michigan parents are now forced to have a "conversation" with a state public health official before being allowed to file a non-medical vaccine exemption. This "may increase resistance to compulsory vaccination" and "engender ill will among vaccine-anxious parents" said a medical historian. Detroit Free Press (Mark Largent) Jan. 5, 2015.

Are We On the Road to an HIV Vaccine? There are nine subtypes of HIV circulating in different populations around the world according to WHO and the virus changes continuously once inside the body. Even so, HIV vaccine developers are determined to create a genetically engineered HIV vaccine using powerful adjuvants and they say they should only need to prove 50% effectiveness for it to be licensed for widespread use. CNN (Meera Senthilingham) Jan. 3, 2015.

Maine Bill Seeks to Halt Surge in Vaccination Avoidance. A bill that will make it more difficult for parents to file a philosophical vaccine exemption for children has been introduced into the Maine legislature. Press Herald (Joe Lawlor) Dec. 30, 2014.  

HHS Offers Ebola Vaccine Protection; NIH Seeks to License Other Vaccines. Federal health officials gave a civil liability shield to Ebola vaccine manufacturers under special "emergency health preparedness" rules while NIH announced the federal government owns technology on new genetically engineered vaccines for shigella disease, anthrax and typhoid. Roll Call (Paul Jenks) Dec. 10, 2014.

Thousands of Flu Vaccine Doses Unused, Costing Tax Dollars. A total of 14, 742 doses of flu vaccine were wasted or expired between 2011 and 2014 for a cost to Chicago area taxpayers of $147,000. NBC TV- Chicago (Chris Coffey) Dec. 2, 2104.

Italy Suspends Batches of Novartis Flu Vaccine After 3 Deaths. Three people in southern Italy died within 48 hours of receiving Novartis Fluad influenza vaccine and a fourth had a "serious adverse event." Bloomberg News (Simeon Bennett) Nov. 28, 2014.

Dry Power Measles Vaccine Shows Promise in Human Trials. Buy-bye Needles. A fine dry powder measles vaccine that is inhaled by children is being developed and tested in humans by researchers at University of Colorado and Serum Institute of India. Tech Times (Aaron Mamiit) Nov. 27, 2014.