Regarding the Oct. 20 article "Medical staff given H1N1 vaccinations": I will not be getting the H1N1 vaccine. I do not particularly want to be injected with a vaccine containing a toxic agent in order to possibly prevent getting the flu.
The H1N1 flu vaccine contains an antiseptic and antifungal agent called Thimerosal. Also known as sodium ethylmercurithiosalicylate, it is an organo-mercury compound (approximately 49 percent mercury by weight) used as a preservative in vaccines. It is being phased out from routine childhood vaccines in the United States, the European Union, and a few other countries including Japan. Thimerosal is very toxic by inhalation, ingestion and contact with the skin, with a danger of cumulative effects. Few studies of the toxicity of Thimerosal in humans have been performed.
I am choosing not to be vaccinated based on these facts. My belief is that preventing the flu, even a flu like H1N1, does not rise to the level of being worth the risk of injecting myself with a vaccine containing a toxic agent like Thimerosal.