Health agency vouches for flu vaccine safety

WASHINGTON -- A leading government health figure says tests on millions of people who have received the H1N1 flu vaccine show that it's safe and effective.

Dr. Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health said in a nationally broadcast interview Tuesday that people should not worry about the safety of the vaccine. He pointed to a study of pregnant woman that more than 90 percent of the patients who got the vaccine mounted "a response that you would have predicted."

Fauci said on CBS's "The Early Show" that officials did a clinical trial and found that "a single, standard dose of H1N1 vaccine produces a standard response" in terms of building immunity.

He said "there are very strong data to indicate the vaccination will protect you."

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)