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Source: Mass for Shut-ins: The Gin and Tacos Podcast
Historians in the News
3/2/2021

The 1976 Swine Flu Fiasco

Artwork for 031 - The 1976 Swine Flu Vaccine Fiasco (David Parsons of Nostalgia Trap) MASS FOR SHUT-INS: THE GIN AND TACOS PODCAST031 - The 1976 Swine Flu Vaccine Fiasco (David Parsons of Nostalgia Trap) 30 00:02:49 / 01:19:36 30 Subscribe to This ShowDownload This EpisodeEmbed This PlayerShare This Episode

Guest: David Parsons (@davidlparsons) from the excellent history podcast Nostalgia Trap joins me to discuss Gerald Ford's disastrous rollout of a nationwide vaccination program in 1976 to combat a swine flu pandemic that didn't materialize. Vaccine recipients developed Guillain-Barre Syndrome, which is sometimes fatal, at a rate 8.8 times higher than the unvaccinated, making this event the foundation of the modern American anti-vax movement. But a closer look reveals that those numbers may not be what they seem, and certainly not what anti-vaxxers use them to mean.

Despite our interest in this poorly-remembered historical event, neither David nor your host endorse any vaccine-related conspiracies, and encourage you to do as we are doing: getting the COVID vaccine at the earliest opportunity.

Read entire article at Mass for Shut-ins: The Gin and Tacos Podcast