To Be (Vaccinated) or not to Be (Vaccinated), THAT is the Question

I have seen at least 20 people ask this question on Facebook in the past few days alone, so I thought perhaps, with it being the current topic of choice, I should at least voice my opinion on the issue. (Because what's the world without a barrage of opinions?)

Will I be getting vaccinated? As of right now, my answer is no. My mother just sent me several e-mails asking me to reconsider. But ultimately, this is a decision each person has to make for himself/herself, because the individual making the decision is the one who has to live with it. Here is why I'm leaning towards no:

-->H1N1 is a flu. Having the flu is junky. Honestly, who out there wants it? But it's important to keep in mind that while the idea of H1N1 is fairly novel, the fact remains that it is still just a flu. Have people died from it? Yes, they have. People die from the regular seasonal flu each and every year as well.

--> The vaccination for H1N1 was whipped up in the midst of a mass hysteria over H1N1, perpetuated through the media in nearly all corners of the world. Not as much time, thought, consideration, and especially testing has gone into this thing as as I would like. The world panicked and health care responded with this vaccination. I prefer not to be the guinea pig. When injecting foreign substances in my body I want to know that there have been longitudinal studies done showing that people won't experience any long-term effects down the road.

--> Not to mention that the idea of being injected with a man-made substance for every little thing just doesn't sit right with me. If I get the flu, I get the flu. I will let the sickness run its course and hope my body does what it was built to do. I'm not a complete "naturalist." Medicine (including many vaccines) works. However, I'm of the mindset that it should only be taken when absolutely necessary.

--> This vaccine has quite a bit of mercury in it. For all you parents out there, thimerosal (the mercury-based preservative that has been phased out of childhood immunizations since 2001 when concerns came up about a possible link to autism) is a part of the H1N1 vaccine. Though, apparently some single-dose syringes will be thimerosal free. If you do decide to vaccinate your children, be sure to ask about that. Of course, nobody knows for sure what really causes autism, some even suggest it may be something to do with the vaccines themselves. If you're a parent of young children, do your research. I'm sure you already are.

--> Those who got the regular seasonal flu shot last year are more prone to H1N1 this year. Which makes me wonder. What if an even more menacing strain of flu makes its way around the world next year, and I'm more prone to it because I got the H1N1 vaccine this year? No thank-you.

--> There have been several reported side effects of the vaccines already. Likely those side-effects are only short term, and many people get sick after the regular flu shot as well (since the vaccine actually injects the flu into your system so that your body can build up immunity to it). But, if I'm only going to get sick anyway, I'd rather just wait it out. Who knows, maybe I'll be able to avoid sickness altogether.

--> When I hear people say that they have questioned their doctors about whether or not they had plans to vaccinate their own families and the doctors have responded with a "no," I become increasingly skeptical and cautious. Why should I inject something into my system that these health care professionals do not even have complete faith in?

My decision is not etched in stone. I may be able to be swayed if people can present me with a good solid reason why I should change my mind. And if I had children, I'm not sure what my decision would be, but I would definitely be exploring things a little further than I have this time around. Whatever people decide - it's a personal choice. Most importantly, whether you get vaccinated or not, remember: CLEAN, COVER, AND CONTAIN! If not for your own sake, for mine! :)