I have never been an avid follower of viruses and vaccines and stuff until recently when talks of the global A/H1N1 vaccination exercise became a topic as hot as pancakes that I simply have to dig it. In China, especially, it was deemed to be really quite a deadly virus that everyone should be scared of and should vaccinate oneself the soonest possible. *Perhaps this is the same in other countries too* But because these H1N1 vaccines are not freely available in China, it adds to the "panic". You know, when supply is limited, it only adds to tease demand. People perceive perhaps the vaccine to be something of rarity and grab hold of it at the slightest chance possible, without going through a thorough thought process. I almost became one of them, until I (dunno why) posted a message on a Beijing expat forum to seek advice from those who have innoculated. Wow! In came a flux of responses to my post. Many were actually as undecided as myself and have sought consultation from medical professionals, not the least the doctors at International SOS and Bejing United Family hospital. And what diverse opinions we get even from these group of so-called experts.

The doctor I spoke to at International SOS advised me AGAINST taking the vaccine, simply because there hadn't been enough tests conducted on people who are in the same situation as myself (sorry, I am speaking in rounds because only people who are closer to me are aware of my situation. in essense, I am in a delicate condition that I am in one of the high risk groups as stipulated in the "Who should take the A/H1N1 vaccination?"). Then came a reply to my forum post from "someone" working at SOS and said that contrary to what their doctor had recommended, she said SOS supports the vaccination of A/H1N1 for people in my group. She never identified herself as someone of administrative capacity or medical professional. Some posted information sources from the same high risk group in other countries who had taken the vaccination and to my surprise, quite a number of them seemed to really suffer from the undesirable effects of the vaccine. Although a direct causation relationship cannot be established, the coincidence of it cannot be ignored.

While I have decided not to vaccinate myself, Olof and I contemplated vaccinating him instead so that I will have some form of protection. Bearing in mind that this vaccine is not freely available in Beijing, Beijing United Family Hospital's announcement of free 5000 doses of A/H1N1 vaccine came as a "pleasant" surprise. We got to know of the information on Friday and were planning already to queue for the vaccine on Sat morning. But somehow my instincts told me that something is fishy about this arrangement. Free vaccination at a hospital frequently mostly by foreigners, when there are still some Chinese who have not gotten the vaccine? It just didn't feel right. And giving out only 5000 doses (again limited supply) is bound to cause chaos when people compete to be in the queue. We retracted our decision in the evening. I think it's not fair to subject my loved one to unforeseen effects that might arise from the vaccine, especially since he is not from the high risk group.

Then came along a notification some days later that BJU has halted this free vaccination exercise on supply grounds. It seemed that the Beijing Health authorities had retracted their promise on the 5000 doses. How weird, I thought! Doesn't this create even deeper the impression the rarity of this vaccine in China and making it more desirable?

At the end of the day, I realised that as a layman in this world of viruses and dividing expert advices, we are at the most disadvantage. So, do your own research, trust your own instincts, use your common sense to make up your own mind if you should innoculate yourself or not. Sometimes heeding the advice of so-called renowned health organizations (here I meant specifically WHO) or your family doctor may not necessarily lead to the wisest decision, because these are the people in the act and the heart of the scheme of things, to the point that I wonder if they should be allowed to, in my acccordance, dictate the human rights. I mean, who has? Why should one get fined for not wanting to innoculate onself the vaccine?

In any case, I recommend anyone who has doubt over this whole vaccination issue to watch this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0JqQyl09zQ

Of course, you can doubt her words too and suspect that she is working for another big conspiracy. But at least whatever she said made sense and could be factually traced.

First Snow In Beijing

The first snow fell on Beijing on the first day of November. What a breathtaking sight when I woke up and looked out of the windows and saw the ground, tree canopies and roof tops covered with snow. Not just a little snow, but lots of snow! Totally beautiful. I've experienced 3 Beijing winter but never had the luck to see any snow. The entire city looked so different, so much more lovely and surprisingly, "warm". Perhaps I am romanticising this too much. It reminded me little of winter in Sweden actually. It has been a long time since I left my footprints on "virgin snow" - untouched by any other living being except myself. That felt totally great. And how could I forget the fun I had throwing myself on thick layers of snow making the print of an angel. Angel of me.

I just saw some snow slipping off a tree. *grin*