By Charles Moton
Tired of Mr. Sacks” constant harangue against innoculations and my own research on questionable Web sites, I called the Food and Drug Administration for information. I talked to Mr. Paul Richards, Public Affairs Specialist. What he said proved that neither Mr. Sacks nor I was completely right. Mr. Richards said that no vaccines since 2001 have been licensed that contain thimerisol or mercury. There is one exception: multi-dose flu shots. This includes both the seasonal and H1N1 vaccines. Single-dose vaccines do not contain thimerisol. The reason that multi-dose vials contain mercury is that it is a preservative. Once a doctor breaks the seal in a multi-dose vial, the vaccine must be protected so that the vaccine is neither contaminated nor weakened. Thimerisol provides this protection.
According to both domestic and global statistics, there is no evidence that thimerisol is a health risk. If people are worried about the possible health risks, then they should receive a vaccine in a single-dose vial, which doesn”t contain the preservative. Mr. Richards also stressed that flu causes 36,000 needless deaths a year because people do not receive the vaccine.
Charles Moton
Lucerne
