Get your flu shot already

First things first: Stop watching YouTube videos and sign up to get vaccinated against the H1N1 flu virus.

While the Internet has become a cesspool of misinformation, disinformation and outright lies about the vaccine, at least two messages from public health officials have been clear.

The vaccine being shipped to clinics across B.C. this week is safe and getting vaccinated will lower your chance of getting ill and reduce the spread of this serious virus.

That, unfortunately, is about all our public health officials have made clear. A series of mixed messages they have sent in recent weeks has added to confusion over who should get vaccinated, when, and with which of the two types of vaccines.

One month ago, B.C.’s provincial health officer, Dr. Perry Kendall, followed up a report that suggested getting vaccinated against seasonal flu could make people more susceptible to H1N1. He announced the seasonal flu vaccine wouldn’t be offered to anyone under 65 until after the H1N1 vaccine campaign was finished.

On Monday, however, Vancouver Island’s chief medical health officer, Dr. Richard Stanwick, posed for cameras receiving both vaccines at the same time, telling us it was safe to do the same.

Messages from two health agencies also sowed confusion over whether pregnant women should get the adjuvanted vaccine that will be offered to most Canadians, or wait for doses of an unadjuvanted vaccine to arrive.

The message is that it is safe for them to get the former, but the latter is preferable.

We can’t blame public health officials for the confusion – the knowledge about both the virus and vaccines, which they use to make their decisions, is still developing.

For the sake of public trust and confidence, they must communicate more clearly with the public, especially when correcting previously held positions. Failing to do so only fuels the mistrust in science that gives rise to misinformation and helps it go viral. Victoria News

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