ABHA/JEDDAH: The public response to the immunization campaign against swine flu launched on Saturday was negative or lukewarm at the best, according to an official at the Health Affairs Department in Jeddah. “Only 31 students turned up for vaccination on Saturday and 25 on Sunday,” said Khalaf Al-Mutairy, director of a clinic which has been designated to receive students from 40 schools in districts to the east of Jeddah.
The situation in Asir province was also no different. According to one source, only 10 percent of parents in Asir consented to their children taking the vaccine.
Parents seem to doubt the efficacy of the vaccine and are under the impression that the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education are unsure how safe it is, said a school principal in Abha. “Why is there a clause in the consent form saying the Ministry of Health or Ministry of Education are not responsible in the event of a serious complication or death occurring after taking the vaccine,” said Yahya Subhan, a school principal in Asir.
“Parents also wonder why the ministries have put that clause in while other vaccinations, such as those administered to a newborn, are void of such clauses,” he said.
He also said the Ministry of Health has rushed the anti-swine flu campaign and not provided schools with the necessary trained staff to handle infections and medical apparatus.
Their worry over side effects is further deepened by the fact that the consent forms do not carry the logo of either the Ministry of Education or the Ministry of Health.
Nuha Dashash, director of primary health care centers in Jeddah, blamed the media for creating mistrust about the vaccine. “If any health risk is involved in taking the vaccine, we, the officials at the Health Affairs, should not have to come forward to administer it to ourselves and our children before giving it to other children,” Dashash said.
The Ministry of Health has striven its best to convince people about the need to take the vaccine, he said, expressing her optimism that the situation would improve in coming weeks.
Muhammad Abdullah, a high school student who suffers from diabetes, said he does not trust the vaccine because he became diabetic at an early age because of another vaccine he was administered while a baby.
Their fear is also fanned by some media reports suggesting that multinational pharmaceutical companies were behind the worldwide fear about the disease to market their products and make huge profits.
Faisal Ghunaym, a fourth grade pupil in Jeddah, said he refused to take the vaccination because of fears of side effects.
The father of Athir and Hanin, two girls at an intermediary school in Abha, left the decision to his daughters saying he does not want to be blamed if they suffer side effects. Athir said she would do as her friends in school would do. On the other hand, Hanin said she and her best friend Nauf have already decided not to take the vaccine.
Another student Basmah said she did not want to be vaccinated because she had heard rumors that people had died after taking the vaccine. She added that she has some doubts about the genuineness of the vaccine taken by the minister of health and his daughter when the campaign was first launched.
Meanwhile, an official statement on Saturday said a total of 105 people died of 14,500 confirmed cases of swine flu in the Kingdom since its outbreak.
