A few days ago, I wrote to Congressman Phil Gingrey with a number of other members of the Organic Consumers Association to voice my concerns over the H1N1 vaccine, and to plead that the state of Georgia does not follow in the footsteps of the state of Massachusetts, which is tossing around the idea of forced vaccinations for people exhibiting flu-like symptoms (which covers a wide range of illnesses, as any doctor can tell you). Failure to get that vaccine would incur fines of $1,000 per day and imprisonment for up to 30 days. The Pandemic Response Bill 2028, which passed the Massachusetts Senate on September 1, allows health authorities to enter private dwellings and detain citizens without a warrant.

The response I received earlier today made me question whether my letter was even read. It was clearly a form letter - which is fine, considering the majority of my letter was just that - stating how Gingrey is a doctor and how the swine flu is of upmost concern for him. No mention of the vaccine.  It was basically a short history of the virus starting in April of 2009, a list of symptoms, and of all things, to “Rest assured I am interested in supporting health care legislation and proposals that would promote the health of all Georgians.”

I feel so comforted. Especially since the e-mail was addressed to “Dear Unknown.”

There are lots of things I can think of that the office staff could have used to address me as in a mass email reply. Dear Constituent. Dear Concerned Citizen. Dear Pain in the Ass. But “Dear Unknown”? That would seem to imply I am so insignificant, I’m hardly even worth replying to.

Many people in this country have felt that our elected officials do not hear us, and do not care about or notice our problems until it comes time to run again for office. This response exemplifies that very concern.  I write in, granted as part of a mass email campaign, my concern for the health, freedom and well-being (and continued mobility) of the people of Georgia, and the response I get is the complete opposite from the very thing I wrote about.

My concern about this vaccine is genuine. The concept of mass vaccinations is frightening on two counts. One: that this is supposed to be the land of the free. For an original patriot state like Massachusetts to be considering forcing people to get a vaccination or pay fines of $1,000 per day and face quarantine on top of it, does not sound free to me.

Second, the speed at which this vaccine was produced has many people alarmed that it has not been adequately tested. The new version contains Squaline, and adjuvant (additive intended to increase the drug’s effect). Technically speaking, squaline is a natural chemical and something your body actually produces in small amounts in response to the ingestion of certain foods, so it would appear to be safe. However, when injected into animals, squalene produced pathogenic (cancerous) cells in lymph nodes, has caused rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and other autoimmune diseases. This additive was included in the Anthrax vaccine administered to our soldiers, and is implicated as the root cause of Gulf War Syndrome (depleted uranium has also been implicated). Further, the FDA has not approved squalene - not that it matters.

Further ingredients in the vaccine include Thermisol — a preservative which is half mercury and linked to autism and neurological disorders. The recent claims of the CDC and the Institute of Medicine that thermisol has no relationship with autism have been soundly rejected by top doctors and scientists ever since last year’s court ruling.

Equally alarming is that the current administration has issued a special ruling exempting the manufacturers of the vaccine from all liability. Federal officials are also immune to litigation, thanks to a document signed by Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius.

History teaches us to be very careful with mass, inadequately tested immunizations. The 1976 Swine Flu vaccination effort is an often used example of the need to proceed with caution, something it appears the WHO, CDC and many governments seem all too willing to forget - except for that little document safeguarding litigation should this vaccine have any devastating side effects.

I have not been able to confirm the alarmist reports that many of the same ingredients are used in the present-day version of the H1N1 vaccine as were used in 1976 - which led to more than 500 cases of Guillain-Barre Syndrome and 25 deaths. In contrast to those numbers, only 200 cases of the 1976 swine flu were actually documented in the U.S., and one death was recorded. A memo was leaked to Britain’s DailyMail implicating that this version of the Swine Flu vaccine may also cause GBS, though I have not seen anything with a side-by-side analysis of the ingredients used in these vaccines.

Numerous other potential warnings are being thrown about the Web, including that animal cancer cells are used in the vaccine, and other side effects of squalene may include infertility. While some of these claims may be just that, I think my concerns and those of my fellow Americans are justified. And I think we deserve a better response than “Dear Unknown.”