Wed Sep 2, 2020, 10:33 PM

Gerald Ford Rushed Out a Vaccine. It Was a Fiasco.

Last week, news arrived that President Trump had lurched into what may be his most reckless obsession yet: His administration would probably seek an “emergency use authorization” for a Covid-19 vaccine long before some scientists believe it would be safe to do so.

-snip-

History offers Mr. Trump a cautionary tale. In February 1976, hundreds of soldiers at Fort Dix, N.J., contracted a new strain of the H1N1 virus that seemed to be a descendant of the one responsible for the 1918 flu pandemic, which killed at least 50 million people worldwide and possibly as many as 100 million.

-snip-

As it turned out, the H1N1 strain never made it out of Fort Dix, where only one Army recruit died. And, as it also turned out, this swine flu was not nearly as virulent as the 1918 influenza.

But fast-tracking the vaccine for broad distribution among the public carried risks. Of the 45 million vaccinated against the swine flu, an estimated 450 people developed the paralyzing syndrome Guillain-Barré and of those, more than 30 died. The National Academy of Medicine subsequently concluded that people who received the 1976 swine flu vaccine had an increased risk for developing Guillain-Barré.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/02/opinion/coronavirus-vaccine-trump.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage

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7 replies	Author	Time	Post
Gerald Ford Rushed Out a Vaccine. It Was a Fiasco. (Original post)	Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin	Sep 2020	OP
And many years ago there was the Cutter incident involving the polio vaccine.	The Velveteen Ocelot	Sep 2020	#1
That was because the company screwed up and included	PoindexterOglethorpe	Sep 2020	#4
I'm not going to take any vaccine	I_UndergroundPanther	Sep 2020	#2
who would take a vaccine that trump rushes out? I wouldn't.	samsingh	Sep 2020	#3
The next time Trump does a presser and babbles about a covid vaccine, the first f-ing question	RockRaven	Sep 2020	#5
I was an adult then, and I recall it quite well.	PoindexterOglethorpe	Sep 2020	#6
In 1976 I remember the swine flu vaccine. My silly	appalachiablue	Sep 2020	#7

Response to Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin (Original post)

Wed Sep 2, 2020, 10:38 PM

The Velveteen Ocelot (91,644 posts)

1. And many years ago there was the Cutter incident involving the polio vaccine.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1383764/#:~:text=In%20April%201955%20more%20than,polio%20had%20to%20be%20abandoned.

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Response to The Velveteen Ocelot (Reply #1)

Wed Sep 2, 2020, 11:40 PM

PoindexterOglethorpe (17,796 posts)

4. That was because the company screwed up and included

a live virus in the vaccine.

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Response to Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin (Original post)

Wed Sep 2, 2020, 11:07 PM

I_UndergroundPanther (4,717 posts)

2. I'm not going to take any vaccine

For covid while trump the psychopath is in office.

I don't trust that orange blob at all. And I don't trust any vaccine he rushes out to the public to garner votes..so he can pretend he "cured" covid.

It won't be tested on enough people to be safe.

And I have risk factors that if it made me sick it would seriously hurt me.

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Response to Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin (Original post)

Wed Sep 2, 2020, 11:30 PM

samsingh (15,759 posts)

3. who would take a vaccine that trump rushes out? I wouldn't.

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Response to Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin (Original post)

Wed Sep 2, 2020, 11:43 PM

RockRaven (7,843 posts)

5. The next time Trump does a presser and babbles about a covid vaccine, the first f-ing question

had better be something about Gerald Ford and 1976 and what lessons from that are you considering (when deciding what to do/forcing the FDA to do for political reasons).

Because he won't know what the fuck they are talking about and won't be able to hide it. And at this point, in this context, that is immorally negligent ignorance which must be exposed by any responsible journalist with the opportunity to do so.

Every time the WH press corps/MSM declines to expose his gross ignorance and incompetence with obvious softball-yet-devastating questions they enable his assault on OUR. VERY. LIVES.

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Response to Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin (Original post)

Wed Sep 2, 2020, 11:44 PM

PoindexterOglethorpe (17,796 posts)

6. I was an adult then, and I recall it quite well.

It struck me, even then, that the rush to the vaccine was ill-advised.

Which is why I am going to be very slow to get a Covid-19 vaccine. I want to see it out there for six months or more so I can be convinced it is safe and effective. Plus, I'm retired and there are a lot of people who would legitimately be ahead of me in line for the vaccine.

Keep in mind that some 300 million doses will need to be manufactured, assuming essentially everyone gets the vaccine. Which probably won't be the case. Which also means that the virus will continue to circulate in unvaccinated people until they all get it and either die or recover and actual herd immunity (between vaccinated people and those who've gotten it) is finally achieved.

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Response to Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin (Original post)

Thu Sep 3, 2020, 07:35 AM

appalachiablue (29,816 posts)

7. In 1976 I remember the swine flu vaccine. My silly

roommate insisted that we get it. We did and I came down sick, laid out for 2 days. Not until many years later did I learn about so many people who came down with Guillan-Barre syndrome from it. I met one man who had acquired it.

Ever since, I've been careful about taking flu vaccines, usually in split doses as given to children even though some health care workers say that isn't effective. It is for me. For covid, if and when a vaccine is developed I'll be extremely cautious about taking it.

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