State of NJ herding sheep at local colleges (Opinion)

Whenever I see a bureaucrat urging groups of people, especially the young, to do something, I get nervous... and nauseous. The State Department of Health is making the rounds at colleges and stopped by Rutgers this week to urge students to get the flu shot, with their #FightTheFluNJ campaign.

How about #FightTheSheepHerders? I know it's their job to push this stuff, but I'm skeptical. It smacks of Soviet style brainwashing to me. Every year the efficacy of these shots is miserably low and they miss the mark on what strain will hit this season.

We did another in a long line of shows on it last week, and there was no shortage of people with horror stories about flu vaccines. One call came from an acquaintance of mine from my town, who is still in physical therapy recovering from his flu shot earlier this year.

It just galls me to see government officials trying to scare kids into putting something foreign into their young healthy bodies because "the authorities" say it's the right thing to do. How about the department of health reminding these kids about maintaining good health and preventing illness naturally through diet and exercise.

If you think it's a good idea to get one of these shots, by all means go for it. I'm not a medical professional and don't profess to have all the answers, but we had more than a few doctors and nurses call in last week to say they don't get it if they don't have to. You don't hear many "credible" voices come out in public and say that, but when they have the opportunity to be candid, they do.

Not all people who are skeptical of the overkill of vaccines today are nutty conspiracy theorists. And a real open and honest discussion of the true benefits of them needs more public airing. That's why we'll continue to write about it here and talk about it on our show. #FightTheBrainwashingScareTacticsNJ!

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