Although it was not a scientific poll, science fiction blog "io9" asked its readers about their feelings toward the influenza vaccine. A total of 1,118 votes were cast on the subject, and the results mirrored some of the feelings from other segments of the public when it comes to flu vaccines. In the poll, 610 votes were cast for options where the voters would not get any vaccine ("Neither vaccine for me!" and "I will get my mercury from tuna, thanks.") That is about 55% of the votes cast. Another 95 votes (8%) voted for taking the seasonal flu vaccine but not the H1N1 ("swine") flu vaccine. The comments section sheds even more light on the voters' opinions.
It's all a craps-shoot, anyway
Fears about the flu vaccine include the fear of mercury poisoning, miscarriages in pregnant women, autism in children, and Guillain-Barre syndrome. All despite numerous scientific studies by government, private, and public organizations that cannot associate flu vaccines to any of these conditions. There are many reasons for this lack of trust, like the Swine Flu of '76, which was a fiasco according to some. Other reasons include conspiracy theories that put every single government in the world in alliance with "Big Pharma". However, many of these fears can be explained with simple statistics. For example, if 1,000 women are vaccinated against the flu, it is expected that a few of them will suffer miscarriages. They will have these miscarriages not because of the vaccine but because between 10% and 25% of clinically recognized pregnancies end in miscarriage.
The same holds true for other conditions. If 1,000,000 people are vaccinated against the flu, one or two will develop Guillain-Barre syndrome, again not because of the vaccine but just out of chance. It is the human phenomena of "surveillance bias" and "recall bias" which are responsible for these associations. When studied scientifically, there is no observed association between flu vaccine and these serious conditions. None. Zero. Yes, there are cases of allergic reactions and soreness or aches, but that is inherent of all vaccines (as well as all exposures to viruses and bacteria). The same scientists and policymakers who have not found a "terrible danger" in vaccines also agree that vaccines benefit humans by preventing some very serious diseases. Everything from influenza to smallpox can be prevented by a vaccine. And great advances are being made in the creating of vaccines against other pathogens, like malaria and HIV.
In the United States, you are free to get sick
or make others sick from vaccine-preventable diseases
Whatever the belief system, people in the United States also have the right to refuse medical treatment when they are of sound mind. Forced immunization or compulsory isolation/quarantine would go against the spirit of the Civil Liberties afforded to persons in the U.S. by the Constitution. As a result, the United States Public Health officials are caught playing a game where they have to balance the liberties of everyone with the right of all U.S. residents to be protected from deadly diseases... the whole "promote the general Welfare" mentioned in the preamble and section 8 of article 1 to the Constitution.
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