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Anonymous ID: acebe7 Jan. 11, 2021, 11:09 p.m. No.12477797   🗄️.is đź”—kun

>>12477758

As public service advertisements urged citizens to “get a shot of protection,” millions of Americans rolled up their sleeves as vaccinations started on October 1. While Ford quipped the shot “may mean a few sore arms,” the press reported the possibility of much worse consequences after three senior citizens died of heart attacks shortly after receiving vaccinations at the same Pittsburgh clinic. While investigations determined no connection between the deaths and the vaccine, a number of states temporarily suspended the program.

 

Although photographs of Ford receiving a vaccination were distributed in hopes of rallying support, public confidence was further shaken when dozens of vaccine recipients were diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome, a rare neurological disorder causing muscle weakness, tingling in the extremities and paralysis.

 

Meanwhile, not only had a pandemic yet to appear, but no swine flu cases outside of the Fort Dix cluster had even been reported. Even if there was no connection between the vaccine and Guillain-Barré syndrome, the risk was no longer acceptable. After the vaccination of 45 million Americans—nearly a quarter of the country’s population—the government halted the program on December 16.

 

Ford lost his re-election bid in the midst of the immunization program that, with the benefit of hindsight, turned out to be unnecessary when a repeat of 1918—or even 1957 or 1968—never materialized. “When lives are at stake, it is better to err on the side of overreaction than underreaction,” wrote Millar and Sencer, who lost his job months later. “In 1976, the federal government wisely opted to put protection of the public first.”

 

https://www.history.com/news/swine-flu-rush-vaccine-election-year-1976