Major news sources are making attempts to rescue what appears to be flagging demand for flu shots in an already unforgettable flu season.

The Chicago Tribune published a report saying flu vaccines are "safe and time tested," but in reality, none were tested on high-risk groups (young children, asthmatics, elderly, smokers, pregnant women) who the government is targeting for inoculation.

The flu shot is newly formulated every year and there is simply no way to know for sure it won’t result in serious side effects, like paralyzing Guillain Barré syndrome, which occurred with the 1976 swine flu vaccine.

Furthermore, public health authorities have been doing a zig-zag on questions posed by the public regarding this year’s flu shots.

At first it was said two flu shots would be required to produce sufficient antibodies against the flu. But then, at the last moment, vaccine makers said only one shot would be needed. Scientific reviews of past flu vaccination campaigns show that single vaccination was at best 30–50% effective at generating antibodies. Furthermore, in many past flu seasons the three strains of the virus in the trivalent vaccines did not match the flu strain in circulation in the population. So many people were vaccinated needlessly.

Because it has become apparent single-dose flu vaccination has not been proven to be effective, the public would think vaccine makers figured out how to add more potent adjuvants, agents that boost antibody production, but inexplicably, the flu vaccines offered this year are said to be free of adjuvants like squalene that have made the public wary of vaccines.

A couple of years ago the FDA said it was going to remove thimerosal preservative from vaccines altogether because it was revealed the amount of mercury in vaccines exceeded EPA guidelines. But thimerosal once again makes its enigmatic appearance in this year’s flu vaccines.

Newsweek has published a lengthy article dispelling many of the myths circulating the internet about this year’s flu outbreak, such as flu-shot related deaths aboard a US Navy ship docked at a foreign port, and alleged preparations to force Americans into quarantine camps. But with these myths dispelled, many others still linger and the news press is doing a terrible job at getting them resolved.

For example, with the Centers for Disease Control airing an online film showcasing their 1000-man army in Atlanta that is working 24-7 to battle this year’s flu pandemic, it becomes puzzling why there is such a huge effort to promote flu shots when this year’s flu virus is producing far fewer deaths than past seasonal flu outbreaks.

Another puzzler is why health authorities initially claimed the pandemic flu emanated from pigs when only this week this flu strain was isolated from swine herds. It appears humans spread this strain of the flu to the pigs, not the other way around. Flu experts believe this is also what happened in 1918 – swine developed symptoms of the flu after the human pandemic started.

But if the so-called swine flu originated in a human, then how could it have possibly reassorted as explained by health authorities? Most graphical drawings of the origins of this triple reassortant pandemic flu show pigs and bird flu strains as antecedents to the current human pandemic strain.

While health authorities lament over the public malingering to undergo flu vaccination, delivery of vaccines is late. Why should the public race to be vaccinated when there simply aren’t enough flu shots to go around?

Bloomberg News reports there were only 11.4 million doses available as of October 14, far short of the 50 million doses anticipated by this date.

In past flu seasons about a third of the population, around 100 million, received flu shots. The Centers For Disease Control has established a target of a 70–80% vaccination rate. Surveys show less than half of the American public says they will opt for the vaccine, which would still be about 50 million more than past flu seasons. What goes unexplained is why, with only a third of the public vaccinated in prior years, did no deadly pandemic result?

Health researchers in Japan and the U.S. caution that over-vaccination could apply greater genetic pressure and result in a genetic mutant strain of the flu for which no one would have immunity towards. The CDC appears to be oblivious to words of caution from within the ranks of virologists and communicable disease specialists.

Still more bewildering is why the CDC continues to recommend inoculation against the seasonal flu when the CDC’s own website shows 99% of the flu in circulation is the A-H1N1 pandemic strain. Seasonal flu shots would be of no value.

The Palm Beach Post reports a flu clinic vaccinating only about 30 people when 3000 were anticipated. Maybe the public is finally catching on to this annual flu ruse.