“Operation Big Shot is one of several training exercises health officials in Ramsey County conduct each year and was scheduled prior to the emergence of the H1N1 flu pandemic,” the newspaper adds.

A number of sources have indicated the government may require mandatory vaccinations this autumn. “Nearly $8 billion will be spent to address a ‘potential pandemic flu’ which could result in mandatory vaccinations for no discernible reason other than to enrich the pharmaceutical companies that make the vaccine,” Ron Paul wrote on June 24, 2009.

According to the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, 42 states have mandatory vaccine policies. “Rampant conflicts of interest in the approval process has been the subject of several Congressional hearings, and a recent Congressional report concluded that the pharmaceutical industry has indeed exerted undue influence on mandatory vaccine legislation toward its own financial interests,” the AAPS notes.

The UN’s WHO supports mandatory vaccinations. On July 13, a World Health Organization (WHO) Global Alert suggested universally mandated vaccines are coming.

“During a pandemic, it may be necessary to overrule existing legislation or (individual) human rights,” states a 2005  WHO document. “Examples are the enforcement of quarantine (overruling individual freedom of movement), use of privately owned buildings for hospitals, off-license use of drugs, compulsory vaccination or implementation of emergency shifts in essential services. These decisions need a legal framework to ensure transparent assessment and justification of the measures that are being considered, and to ensure coherence with international legislation (International Health Regulations).” (Emphasis added.)

WHO “recommendations” are binding on all 194 member countries in case a pandemic emergency is declared under the 2005 International Health Regulations Act and April 2009 WHO pandemic plan.

In August, the WHO recommended a mandatory global vaccination. “The global pandemic vaccination program will begin somewhere around the end of September and last about two months. Many countries are in the process of acquiring from Baxter, Novartis, GlaxoSmithKline and other pharmaceutical companies enough doses of vaccine to vaccinate their entire population twice. They remain quiet about mandatory vaccination, simply saying they will make vaccination ‘available’ to all on a priority basis,” the Columbia Valley News reported.

“We hope that the whole world will have some access to the vaccine,” Marie-Paule Kieny, director of WHO’s Initiative for Vaccine Research, told the Washington Post today. “In some countries it will be possible to vaccinate the whole population and in some countries only 10 percent.”

In the United States, any mandatory vaccination program will likely be the responsibility of the states. “Historically, the preservation of the public health has been the responsibility of state and local governments, and the authority to enact laws relevant to the protection of the public health derives from the state’s general police powers,” explains a  CRS Report for Congress. “With respect to the preservation of the public health in cases of communicable disease outbreaks, these powers may include the institution of quarantine or the enactment of mandatory vaccination laws.”

Massachusetts recently passed the “Pandemic Response Bill.” It suspends virtually all Constitutional rights of Massachusetts citizens and forces anyone “suspected” of being infected to submit to interrogations, “decontaminations” and vaccines, according to Mike Adams. “It’s also sets fines up to $1,000 per day for anyone who refuses to submit to quarantines, vaccinations, decontamination efforts or to follow any other verbal order by virtually any state-licensed law enforcement or medical personnel.”

Judge Andrew on the Massachusetts martial law bill and the Constitution.

In the last few weeks, states and municipalities around the country have mandated seasonal flu vaccinations for health care workers. In response, health care workers in New York are taking to the street in opposition. “Under what circumstances can government officials order mandatory vaccination? And could the general public be ordered to roll up their sleeves for injections, even if there might be side effects beyond a sore arm or mild fever? The concern in New York also comes as skepticism of vaccination in general seems to be on the rise,” Declan McCullagh writes for CBS News today.

The drill in Minnesota is yet another indication the government is ramping up to vaccinate the entire population, either through a massive propaganda campaign and scare tactics now well underway through the corporate media, or through legal mandate backed up by the cops and the military.