'60 Minutes': An inside look at H1N1 vaccine production

On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the H1N1 virus is widespread in 48 states. Last weekend, the president declared a national emergency. A new vaccine is supposed to save the country from the worst-case scenario. But that vaccine isn't coming as fast as expected and there's lots of skepticism. Should you get it? Can you get it? Is it safe?

To find some answers, 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley went inside the federal government's $3 billion H1N1 vaccine project. This is the first time the public has seen where and how the vaccine is made.

It's true that for 99 percent of the people who get H1N1, it is just the flu--a few miserable days at home. But health officials warn that those who don't get vaccinated take a chance they'll end up like 15-year-old Luke Duvall, who we met in our first report on the virus two weeks ago....

Read more of "An Inside Look at H1N1 Vaccine Production" at CBSNews.com.

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[Super2online]

I watched this episode last night realizing that I really need to get the family in to get this. This could still turn into the nightmare scenario envisioned from the begining and I don't want anyone in my family to become one of these statistics.

[Jonathan]

I would love to get the shot. I'm a diabetic who is a field service tech who runs call from schools to airports to pretty much anywhere within a 150 mile radius, and also fall into the age range that is more susceptible to H1N1....to bad there aren't any shots anywhere. At best I'm going to be waiting until December....at best. I already know three people who has had H1N1. Two it was the standard flu type symptoms, it was bad but not horrible. The third required tamiflu and a few days in the hospital due to serious dehydration. Its very much a crap shoot when it comes to how bad it will be if you get it. I'd rather not play the odds, but what choice do I freaking have since there aren't any doses available?!

[ballmerisanape]

I work in a children's hospital and we don't even have it yet (although im pretty sure the ER staff has).

[ballmerisanape]

If you or your children have asthma.. and neither of you have had an adverse reaction to a previous vaccination... you really need to get this vaccine. In general, getting vaccinated prevents the spread and slows the evolution of this type of virus.

[MyRightEye]

Getting a vaccine for a flu that is not even remotely as bad as the regular seasonal flues. 19 American children have died from this flu VACCINE so far. If you take this vaccine you're an idiot.

[2RabidBunny]

Could you post a link to the info of 19 American chidlren who died from the vaccine?
Thanks

[san_diego_guy]

I'm sorry but you're the idiot here. 19 American children may have died from the vaccine (although I'm not taking your assertion at face value), but that would be far less than the children who have ALREADY died from contracting the H1N1 flu. Since April, 477 people have already died from H1N1 in the U.S. (Source: CDC).

There are always side effects of ANY medical procedure, even the most common benign ones. What needs to be weigh is which is the worse risk? Even if I accepted your number of 19 people have died from the H1N1 vaccine, that's far less than those who've died when they got the H1N1 flu itself by 25 times!

I don't know about you but I would gladly accept the risks for me and my family from the vaccine than the 25 times risk of dying from the flu itself.

[KHNC]

Ummm...where did you get this figure??

[ballmerisanape]

And hundreds have died from the flu. Your living in a dream world.. Go visit your local Children's hospital and talk to the staff.

[tphm]

You just can't rush an important production system like that. Delay or setback is the norm in even well-run manufacturing like AMD chip processing. Be careful on journalist's play to get on sentimental side of TV watchers.
On the other hand, it's ok for those who refuses to get vaccinated to leave important doses to other needed people. You make your choices. Don't come back and make a fuss about it later. I can image some would say something along this line: "If the government knows the vaccine would save their life, the government should more forcefully require them to take the vaccine."

[tmcmurph]

Squalene? Mercury? No thanks. Why is it that adjuvant free versions are available but not to the vast majority of people? Why do they use those adjuvants in the first place?

Mercury is a neurotoxin. It is also the preservative because they ship in multi dose containers. Why not ship single dose containers? It would cost more and we wouldn't want to cut into the profits of large corporations would we? Especially when they can't be sued for the side effects. Look how long it took the big pharma companies to fix the whooping cough vaccine!

Squalene is used to boost the immune response so you need less virus. When ingested it is used by the body. When injected it is treated like a foreign body and attacked. Problem is your immune system can also attack the squalene your body needs. This will leave you with auto immune disorders.

The biggest questions are do we even need it and do these vaccines even work? Look at the work by Dr Tom Jefferson and Dr Lisa Jackson. The whole theory of seasonal flu vaccines is completely unproven yet they refuse to do double blind placebo controlled studies.

Last but not least why do they test the version without adjuvants for safety and yet ship the vast majority of shots contain adjuvants? Bait and switch?

The large pharmaceutical companies and the government do not have a track record worthy of trust. Now they are going to demand that we trust them? Get stuffed!

[KHNC]

There is NO squalene in the H1N1 vaccine available in the US. Also, there are mercury free vaccines available. All of the nasal mist vaccines are preservative free.

[rquinn7]

Check the facts. There is MORE mercury in a can of TUNA, than there is in the vaccine!

[ybul]

While there may be more mercury in a can of tuna than the shot. The shot is injected directly into the blood, where as the bodies digestive system will not try to absorb the mercury as it is not a desired nutrient.

Just like the Squalene problem, a needed component for the body but when it is injected into the body, the body learns to attack it. Whereby it may learn to attack all squalene in the body, causing long term problem for the individual that takes the shot.

[Renegade Knight]

The roll out in my state is an issue. I'm not a targeted group but if I did show up they would give a me the vaccine thereby endangering more people. Meanwhile my wife who is targeted can't get it (and should have been given the vaccine by a better distrubtion system).

Right now the distribution system is this. "If you can stand in line for hours on end and expose yourself to the ills of everone in line with you, then you may, get a vaccine but you likely will get whatever the folks in line have.

The normal flu vaccine distrubtion system seems to work better than the emergency one.

[SampsonRealty]

I find it interesting that our government is so security conscious that they will not disclose chicken ranches, but not so concerned as to turn over production of the vaccine to a foreign country.

[DemonDuck000]

http://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/qa/vaxsupply.htm

The link above lists the manufactures of the vaccine. Note that most are foreign companies. That's because there is only one manufacturer in the U.S. One manufacturer could not make 350 million doses in the time frame given.

Also, you may want to look at how much mercury is in those doses. Not much. You will get more heavy metal poisoning on your drive to the place where you get the flu shot than from the flu shot itself.

The world is not controlled by your tv remote. You cannot just press a button and get what you need.

You are responsible for your own actions. Take care of yourself by taking precautions. You will be disappointed waiting for someone else to take care of you exactly like you want to be taken care of.

[tmcmurph]

"Also, you may want to look at how much mercury is in those doses. Not much. You will get more heavy metal poisoning on your drive to the place where you get the flu shot than from the flu shot itself."

According to the GSK product information (21 October 2009) it contains

"Preservative content is 5?g Thimerosal USP per 0.5mL dose or 2.5 micrograms organic mercury (Hg) per 0.5mL dose".

What information do you have about inhaled mercury or are you just pulling numbers out of the air?

Also from the same GSK product information is this "Squalene 10.69 milligrams/0.5mL dose," and these gems

"Elderly (>60 years): No clinical data are available for Arepanrix? H1N1 in this age group."

"Children and adolescents aged 10-17 years: No clinical data are available for any influenza vaccines with AS03 in this age group."

[DemonDuck000]

I said heavy metal poisoning.

And if you are worried so much about 2.5 micrograms of mercury -- best to stop eating tuna fish...
http://www.pbs.org/now/science/mercuryinfish.html

Step 1 - DETERMINE EPA's RECOMMENDED LEVEL FOR A 45 LB CHILD

* Multiply child's body weight by EPA's reference dose.
* Convert 45 pounds to kilograms = 20.45 kilograms
* 20.45 kilograms x .1 micrograms per kilogram per day

EPA RECOMMENDED LEVEL = 2.05 micrograms per day = 14.35 micrograms per week.

Step 2 - HOW MUCH MERCURY IS IN 6 OUNCES OF CHUNK WHITE TUNA?

* Multiply amount of fish by average mercury level for chunk white albacore.
* Convert 6 ounces to grams = 170 grams 170 grams X .31 ppm (or micrograms per gram)**

MERCURY INGESTED = 52.7 micrograms per gram

Step 3 ? COMPARE MERCURY INGESTED WITH EPA'S RECOMMENDED LEVEL

* Divide 52.7 micrograms by 14.35 micrograms = 3.7

BY EATING 6 OUNCES OF CHUNK WHITE TUNA A WEEK, THE CHILD IS INGESTING ALMOST FOUR TIMES EPA'S RECOMMENDED DOSE.

But you have valid concerns so I recommend that you personally do not get the flu vaccine. That way someone else who probably needs it more can have your dose. Think of it as an altruistic gesture...

[tmcmurph]

"I said heavy metal poisoning. "
Do you have any facts or are you just pulling this out of thin air? You said I would get more driving to the place than I would from the shot. Unless you can back it up your statement is blatantly misleading at best.

Yes it seems you can copy and paste EPA guidelines which I already know about. My original questions and points still stand. Your attempt at deflection is not working. One does NOT breathe in more "heavy metal" driving to the clinic than one gets from the shot. Unless you can provide evidence to back up your original statement withdraw it.

Vaccines are a great tool in the medical arsenal. Overuse like we are seeing now will lead to many problems just like overuse of antibiotics has done.

[krosafcheg]

tmcmurph: vaccines do not operate like antibiotics. This is why they come out with new flu shots based on what strain is spreading.

[jbcahill]

I watched this when it aired. This 60 Minutes segment was the biggest scare piece I have ever seen done on any subject on tv.

[borealis4]

The 60 minutes segment is trash journalism. Very sensationalistic story. It's a tabloid infomercial for getting vaccinated against a virus that is causing problems for much less than 1% of the population. For a healthy individual to submit to this latest vaccine is akin to strapping on knee pads, shoulder pads, helmet and jock that have been coated with toxic components while playing checkers.

The piece 60 minutes did was just awful, how they could do a 'story' on the manufacturing of vaccines without even mentioning even a few of the varied problems that commonly occur (such as contamination, dose irregularities, etc.) is beyond excusable.

No mention was made of prominent scientific data and experts (some within the CDC) who diverge completely with the 2 experts polled on the true safety and efficacy of vaccines.

[DemonDuck000]

"No mention was made of prominent scientific data and experts (some within the CDC) who diverge completely with the 2 experts polled on the true safety and efficacy of vaccines."

Perhaps then you could mention those data and experts? Or do you prefer to remain comfortably secure in your vagueness?

[baruchzed13]

People die from the flu every year. I am not aware that H1N1 is causing more fatalities. I am aware of toxic reactions to the vaccine, including death. I am also aware that there are people involved in health care who question the safety of this vaccine. I am also aware that in Europe H1N1 was first hyped, and then the hype exposed and rejected by governments, i.e. the swiss. In France people are suing the government for allegedly trying to poison them with this vaccine.
This 60 Minutes story looks like total propaganda.

[ayxc]

Flu Shot Disabled Beautiful Cheerleader:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEN5KGwNGeo

HOW DARE THIS GUY SAY THAT THERE HAS BEEN NO SEVERE NEGATIVE REACTIONS. BOLD-FACED LIE.

The FDA's website lists mercury, squalene and formaldehyde among some of the ingredients in the swine flu H1N1 shot. Click on this link to find out about what scientists have found about mercury's damaging effects on the brain: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UT7_S... ..Research the ingredients yourself. There is a program preventing all lawsuits due to vaccine injury. Anyone who has been injured cannot sue.Although Dystonia is a less prevalant disorder, autism rates in America's children have skyrocketed. 1 in 150 children in America are diagnosed with autism. Mercury has been proven to cause nonsocial and uncontrollable behavior in primates. Scientific studies has proven mercury poisoning causes neurological damage. Dystonia is a neurological movement disorder in which sustained muscle contractions cause twisting and repetitive movements or abnormal postures.[1] The disorder may be caused by other factors such as infection, poisoning (e.g. lead poisoning) or reaction to drugs, particularly neuroleptics. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4SmFx... - Doctors Refuse Flu Shot... Long term testing on the possible side effects of the H1N1/ swine flu shot has not been done.

[12345apeig]

Vaccine propoganda piece.

[HealthWyze]

You really don't want to know how vaccines are made, but you should. Better yet, maybe you should look at the production of the H1N1 virus. You see, the virus itself is man-made and was approved for patent in January 2009. Did the mainstream news forget to mention that tiny detail? Read about it, and be informed:

http://healthwyze.org/index.php/component/content/article/239-proof-that-the-swine-flu-epidemic-was-man-made-and-intentional.html

[Gdl_kinG]

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