Government Readies Schools As Mass Vaccination Clinics

Nationwide vaccination programs expected to be instituted this fall following WHO declaration of swine flu pandemic status

The government is telling schools across the country to prepare to be used as clinics for mass vaccination programs set to be instituted later this year, according to an Associated Press report.

Schoolchildren are being targeted as the first recipients of a swine flu vaccine currently being developed, despite the fact that swine flu has proven far less lethal than originally feared, killing just 160 people worldwide, a figure dwarfed by the number of people who die annually from the regular flu virus.

The World Health Organization increased the hysteria surrounding swine flu last week, raising their alert status to level 6, indicating a global pandemic was underway.

“Schoolchildren could be first in line for swine flu vaccine this fall — and schools are being put on notice that they might even be turned into shot clinics,” states the report.

“Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Tuesday she is urging school superintendents around the country to spend the summer preparing for that possibility, if the government goes ahead with mass vaccinations.”