Germany Botches H1N1 Vaccine Rollout

The US is getting hit hard by the swine flu epidemic with at least 68 children dead from the virus since last April.  So far, there has been only one reported death in Germany attributed to H1N1.  On the European continent, the epidemic doesn't look so threatening, so many people are reluctant to immunize themselves or their children against the virus. In Germany, the actions of the federal government are fueling the skepticism of the general populace against the vaccine:

Just a week after it emerged that the German armed forces was
getting a different kind of A/H1N1 vaccine to the general population, Der Spiegel magazine reports that the government will also get special treatment.

The general population will be offered the GlaxoSmithKline vaccine,
called Pandemrix, which contains a new booster element, or adjuvant, as
well as a preservative containing mercury.Controversy has grown around the rapid licensing of the GSK vaccine –
and a similar one being made by Novartis. Critics said not enough
testing had been conducted before European licensing authorities rushed
an approval.
Chancellor Angela Merkel, her cabinet members and ministry civil
servants as well as those working for other agencies will get Celvapan,
produced by US firm Baxter, which does not have the adjuvant or the
preservative, according to Der Spiegel.
It is thought the adjuvant may lead to a stronger reaction in the
patient – which to a certain degree is the point, meaning the vaccine
can contain less of the virus yet still provoke the crucial immune
system reaction. But this is also what some say is the additional risk – and has led to
stocks of the traditional kind of vaccine being bought in for pregnant
women and young children. 

Why the two-tiered approach that simply makes people suspicious that they are receiving an untested, "inferior" vaccine?  Whatever the government's rationale, the vaccine program has caught the attention of conspiracy blogs.  The Web site of the right-wing paranoia group Kopp Verlag asks: 

Und weshalb wird quecksilberhaltiger Impfstoff mit unausgetesteten Nebenwirkungen für das »einfache« Volk verwendet? (And why is a vaccine containing mercury that has not been tested for side effects being used for the "little people"?) 

The conspiracy portal InfoKrieg has screaming headlines about the "scandal" of the dangerous vaccine. One has to search far and wide for a reasoned, objective report on the vaccine and why all Germans should get it.  The Web site Ärzte Zeitung has a good summary that can be understood by non-experts about the vaccine and the pros and cons of the adjuvants that are used in Europe.  The potential for side-effects are acknowledged, but they are far outweighed by the vaccine's benefits:

Richtig ist: Adjuvanzien verstärken die Immunantwort,
deshalb werden sie in Impfstoffen eingesetzt. Dabei kann es auch zu
unspezifischen Immunreaktionen kommen; dies sind in der Regel lokale
Reaktionen. Wer die Äußerungen der zahlreichen
Kritiker in den Medien liest, wird immer wieder hierauf
stoßen: stärkere Schmerzen an der Einstichstelle,
mehr Schwellungen am Injektionsort. Also: Lokalreaktionen. Diese
mutieren in der Debatte zu bedrohlichen Nebenwirkungen. (The truth is that adjuvants increase the immune response; that's why they are used in vaccines. This may result in an immune reaction whichi is localized.  If one reads the reacions of the critics in the media one finds the following: there is sometimes increased pain at the injection site followed by swelling. As mentioned, a localized reaction. These become distorted in the debate to life-threatening side-effects.) 

One has to ask why the government didn't use this equally effective vaccine (with adjuvants) for its own staff and for the military.  Now millions of Germans will refuse the vaccine, putting themselves and their families at risk.