First off: the worries. For weeks, it's become a mantra of public health officials and infectious disease experts: the swine flu vaccine is safe. Make sure you get one.
Nevertheless, parents are still very uneasy about the vaccine. A recent article by our colleague Meredith Cohn found parents who fear the inoculation hasn't been thoroughly tested and others who worry about giving their small children too many vaccines. Others are bewildered by the onslaught of information about the virus and the development of the vaccine. An Associated Press poll last week found that a third of parents oppose giving their children the vaccine. At a dinner party I attended Saturday night, I heard the same fears repeated by moms.
And yet, public health officials are quick to note that children are more vulnerable to this new flu. In fact, a 14-yearold Baltimore girl with no underlying health problems died of the virus two weeks ago. I expect officials' get-the-shot urgings will not end any time soon.
Meanwhile, workplaces are making sick leave policies more lenient, developing contingency plans in the event of mass absenteeism and even offering cool incentives to their workers who get a swine flu shot. We told you about the former on the blog a few weeks ago -- Pinnacle Communications employees who get vaccinated against the H1N1 virus, get an hour of personal training and a free day off. Cool.
Hoping to keep businesses productive this winter, workplaces everywhere are driving home one message: get vaccinated and you fall ill, stay home.
