Brana Hardway: Post #5

Albuquerque Journal 9/7/09
"Update vaccinations now to avoid problems later"
By: Rachel Saslow
This article is about how people need to be current on all disease and illness vaccinations, not just the seasonal and H1N1 flus. It discusses several diseases like the shingles that people either do not know much about or do not concern themselves with getting the vaccine. For shingles, the statistics show that less than 10% of adults receive this vaccine but also show that the cost for the shot ranges from $200-$500. A description of various diseases and illnesses is provided along with the suggested vaccine for certain ages and the specific intervals.
I believe this is an example of social control because this is a perceived attempt to instill fear in society about the illnesses and diseases they can contract that they never even realized. When people become scared of this, they will most likely get vaccinated and prevent maybe some very unlikely and rare diseases, but get the shot anyway because of this fear caused by the media. This makes me think that such information is perpetuated by medical and pharmaceutical companies that would profit off these vaccinations. I further developed this opinion when I saw that the vaccine that received much focus was the shot to prevent shingles, perhaps because the price for this vaccine costs several hundreds of dollars, making it probably one of the most expensive vaccinations. Because only 7% of people have gotten this shot, making others afraid of the disease is a very effective strategy to get people to shell out the extravagant amount of money to get the shot. The way information is portrayed in the media shapes society's response. The media conveyance of stories and information informally controls what we think about, how we think about it and how we should respond and how we actually respond.