Swine Flu, Weaker Than Projected

Radio Commentary, WMVV 90.7 New Life FM, December 4, 2009
By Sue Ella Deadwyler

Good morning, Jim. During my latest trip to the Capitol, I heard some very good news from a Georgia public health official. But, first, I’ll encourage you with some other good news. Swine flu is not as contagious or as deadly as they thought. Professors at Harvard-MIT found that the virus can’t easily attach itself to our respiratory system. Then, New Zealand researchers said swine flu is at least 40 times less deadly than was first reported. Also, at the Capitol in November, Dr. Patrick O’Neal of the Georgia Department of Community Health said vaccinations would not be mandatory, but would continue to be available to those that want them.

The swine flu public health emergency was first declared in the United States in April by the Department of Health & Human Services and in June by the World Health Organization, then by President Obama in October. All this happened after a new swine flu was discovered in Mexico in March and was thought to be extremely serious. Although this swine flu is weaker than seasonal flu, the president’s declaration allows special laws to be activated, so public health workers can ignore right-to-privacy laws in Medicaid, Medicare, Children’s Health Insurance Plan (CHIP) and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

Now back to our situation. If Georgia’s emergency power law were enforced, we would lose our right to refuse to be vaccinated. Religious exemptions would be cancelled and we would be controlled by a new health policy that was written this summer. It empowers officials to isolate or quarantine us at home or elsewhere until the perceived emergency is gone. But that’s not all.

A really scary thing about emergency power is this. It can be activated whether dangers are real, imagined or just a hunch. In addition to the threat of forced vaccination, isolation or quarantine, I’m concerned that no one’s talking about the extreme danger of emergency surveillance, that could make traffic light cameras seem like child’s play, when it comes to invading privacy. Those cameras are nothing compared to a surveillance system poised to track individuals and it’s already in use in parts of Georgia and other states. Next week I’ll tell you about its dangers. By the way, the healthcare bill passed by the U.S. House contains a section that would allow this tracking system to be used on the entire population and right now, there’s no law against it. For Georgia Insight I’m Sue Ella Deadwyler, your Capitol Correspondent.