This an important topic for me as I had polio before their was a vaccine and remember the general parental fears each summer. Now years later I have mild post polio syndrome - of course, unknown at the time.
Thank you for a catalogue of specific and concise responses to vaccine skeptics. I would have added a chart showing how dramatically infection morbidity and mortality decreased as specific immunizations were introduced. And it is always important to be explicit that public health considerations and calculations almost always are different than the kinds of decisions which individuals rationally make for themselves. The lack of public and policy understanding of this difference allowed many unnecessary deaths during COVID.
Finally, it is worth noting that facts and discussions like this have marginal impact of most vaccine skeptics, whose perspective is governed by trust, emotional and ideological/political considerations. Also because they have lived a life protected from the various diseases due to herd immunity, their personal safe experiences in life distort their understanding of the issues.
I'm all in on vaccines. I was just at a new doctor/patient visit and the new doc told me my tetanus expired. I told her I will get any and every vaccine she recommends as soon as she recommends it. There's no reason to get sick if I can reasonably prevent it.
It's laughable that "vaccines are a victim of their success".
The truth is vaccines are a victim of their side effects. A critical mass of people now know of children and adults severely injured by these drugs. When they wonder how this could happen, they look into the science behind vaccines and are shocked.
Vaccines are a victim of their fraudulent and criminal lack of studies against placeboes like all other pharmaceutical drugs are required to have before being given to our children and citizens. This means WE CAN'T KNOW if vaccine benefit outweighs vaccine risks. Since the health of our children continues to decline, we need to find out if the dramatic increase in the number of pharmaceutical injections kids get is contributing to kids general health decline. There are many signs that they do. Pharmaceutical companies that fund most all vaccine studies rarely include placebo control groups, certainly don't pay millions to study vaccine risks directly, and wouldn't study vaccinated versus and vaccinated children. Why? Because those studies would threaten their guaranteed, liability-free profit stream. Does the local epidemiologist comprehensively read vaccine studies???
Vaccines are a victim of their adjuvents, which by definition are toxins that stimulate an immune response. Metal adjivants are in all vaccines, all metals are neurotoxins, and kids may already have a toxic load in their body. It is criminal that these have not been studied before being injected into babies and children. It's alarming that people inject toxins into a newborn baby's body.
Any benefits of vaccines are individual and shared, AND the risks of vaccines are also individual and shared. We literally and appallingly have an epidemic of childhood disease and autism in this country that correlates to the criminal rise of pharmaceutical injections into children. Correlation is an indicator of causation, and points to the need for in-depth scientific study, yet these haven't been done. Pharmaceutical companies certainly won't do these studies and risk their liability free, guaranteed profit stream in this country. And the unholy alliance between our government and pharma corporations prevents these studies from being done. Pharmaceutical companies are profit driven, and they have spent billions in advertising, government lobbying, grants to universities, and paying doctors "speaking fees". This has resulted in people thinking vaccines are this incredible wonder drug that will solve all infectious disease problems - no matter how many other toxins are also in these injections. It's a strange, entrenched belief system that is not backed by proper science.
Luckily individual pediatric practices are doing these studies. If you are pregnant or have young children, please look at these studies and decide for yourself if the risk is worth the benefit to your precious child.
Here is Dr Paul Thomas's study from his pediatric practice comparing the health of vaccinated versus partially vaccinated versus unvaccinated kids. Also here’s a video of a presentation he gave about the study that at the end includes an interview with the co-author. In the presentation he says he's been harassed ever since publishing this. Unvaccinated kids were healthier across the board; less incidents of ear infections, allergies, doctor's visits, infections, adhd, and autism.
-Here is another study of vaccinated and unvaccinated kids at 3 pediatric clinics: Analysis of health outcomes in vaccinated and unvaccinated children: Developmental delays, asthma, ear infections and gastrointestinal disorders:
Doctors who have a reason to start reading vaccine studies finally see what anyone else has seen, including me, about the bad vaccine science passed off as good science. A couple examples…
-This is a 15 min interview with pediatric doctor Zajac who pressured all the families in his practice to fully vaccinate the kids according to the CDC recommended schedule. He started to notice the unvaccinated or partially vaccinated kids were healthier than the others. Then one of the kids had a serious vaccine side effect that he could not deny, and another baby died the day of receiving a vaccine. He then read the childhood vaccine studies and was shocked (as we all are) when he learned there's never any placebo control group. He loses 1.7 million dollars a year by not following the CDC schedule in his practice, which is quite a monetary incentive for doctors.
-Dr Mackenzie started his career pro vaccine because of what he learned in medical school, and then found out the bad and fraudulent science when he had kids and needed to decide whether to vaccinate (he didn't follow the CDC schedule). He also talks about the vaccinated versus unvaccinated studies that could easily be done, but aren't.
-Dr Humphries prescribed vaccines as a doctor and didn't read the scientific literature until she met a group of unvaccinated kids and recognized they were healthier (the first 5 min). She then had three patients with sudden kidney disease after taking a flu shot (23min).
I caught measles in 1961, in 8th grade at boarding school in California. My home life was problematic so I begged to stay at school. Since there was no infirmary, I stayed in my room (my roommate had already had measles).
I recall feeling extremely hot one night as I tried to sleep. Suddenly, the fate of the world was in my hands: If I couldn't count from 400 down to 1 with perfect accuracy, everyone would die! I struggled and struggled, thrashing around. Finally I got up, walking down the dark hall, managed to find the bathroom, and threw cold water on my face.
Trying to return to bed (still counting), I could not recall which door along the hall led to my own bedroom. So I opened each one quietly, finally locating one in which there was an empty bed. I crawled in and must have slept, because the next thing I knew the dorm mother was saying, "Your mother's coming to take you home." It dawned on me that I'd bene hallucinating/
At home, our doctor visited an, I took aspirin. My mother gave me a succession of cool washcloths for my forehead and milk toast three times a day. Forbidden to read or watch TV, I simply lay there with the blinds closed so I wouldn't go blind. Once I realized how boring that was, I knew I was starting to heal. Recovery took about two weeks.
Sometimes I wonder if my difficulty hearing, which had gradually become quite a bit worse over time, came from having the measles as a young teen.
Thanks for this vivid recall of measles misery. I'm 82 and suffered through measles at age 5. I was luckier than my cousin, who developed meningitis. My little playmate next door was deaf because his mother had rubella. In the summer we children were all strictly forbidden to set foot in the park because of the fear of polio. That so many have forgotten this recent world -- or never knew about it -- concerns me deeply. Public education about public health is so badly needed, especially in our country!
So glad to read this. People nowadays don't know about life during the onslaught of TB, measles, whooping cough, tetanus, mumps, rubella, etc. I've known people deaf from measles, die from tetanus, nearly die from diphtheria and whooping cough and have an abortion because of rubella. Also had ancestors mentally affected probably by measles meningitis. We must not forget how deadly these diseases are, how they affect one for the rest of one's life. Vaccines are always saving lives
I would summarize" If there were no objections based on cost, the best policy would be universal vaccination. The only "real" objection to universal vaccination comes from the anti-vax movement and politicians trying to win elections by fluffing anti-vaxxers.
You did not mention the fact that measles infection causes immune amnesia, presumably increasing vulnerability to other infections for some period after recovery from measles.
Quick timing question: Is there a change in the analysis of immediate benefit or immediate risk for the covid-19 vaccine when another member of the household gets covid?
I'm 60, have three risk factors for complications, and had my last vaccine booster in early April 2024. I'm planning to travel to family gatherings with older relatives (80s or 90s) at the end of September and Thanksgiving. Some of the September relatives are antivax. I was planning on getting my fall booster and flu shot this week. Then, on Sunday, my teenager tested positive. He has a fever and is isolating, and we're masking, keeping the windows open, and being careful. Nonetheless, we're living together in a small house.
If I get the vaccine today, how long before I receive any increased protection from transmission? If I've been exposed and may have not-yet-symptomatic-or-testable-infection, does getting vaccinated now pose any risk of an infection being worse? Should I wait a week and see if I get infected at home, or jump and get vaccinated immediately?
Thanks for this! "This is because the individual decision to get vaccinated changes the risk-benefit calculation for everyone. In other words, your probability of encountering measles is low because so many people around you are vaccinated." I like how you list what we can do for everyone first and then what it does for us. If more people thought like this, society would be a more team-spirited place.
Thank you! I am always heartbroken when a new parent who was all in on vaccines gets turned around by fear mongering friends neighbors and family … “just because”. I will spend unlimited time to work with parents on vaccines. Because it’s worth it.
I grew up before they were vaccines available for childhood diseases such as MMR. While this is anecdotal, I know a number of people who had adverse reactions, such as hearing loss and consequent speech issues. (I continue to see these folks in my psychotherapy practice, and know the impact this has had upon their confidence.) I am all in on vaccines, and freely share information from experts (with the disclaimer that I’m not a scientist). Thank you for what you do! And now…I’m off to get the updated COVID vaccine. If memory serves, I believe this will be #9. I’ve only had COVID once and, despite risk factors (age, asthma), it was a non-event. I am profoundly grateful for science!
I look forward to your emails! One thing I would point out about Rubella vaccine [and you are too young to remember], it is a very serious problem if a pregnant woman contracts Rubella. It causes birth defects. So many teachers who did not have Rubella as children and then were exposed as teachers and were pregnant had children born with birth defects. We don't see that any more! Rubella is not usually too serious a disease, but can cause serious issues with Congenital Rebell Syndrome. And of course, there are always those kids like you mentioned in the article who do suffer serious adverse affects from it. Thanks again for all your wonderful information!
If International Travel is a VERY BIG FACTOR in the transmission of diseases, then WHY in the world is the Travel Industry & Countries not being required to use COMMON SENSE PROTOCOLS for visitors & incoming citizens to be tested to prevent diseases!!?? This is a "No-Brainer!" (Except for the brains of the "Almighty Gods of Profit & Greed" who DO in fact have brains but clearly no heart & no Soul for Humanity...) This world is now a "Post Pandemic Sh*t Show" -- thanks to the Billionaire's Boys Clubs/Psychopaths who put profit before human life...
This an important topic for me as I had polio before their was a vaccine and remember the general parental fears each summer. Now years later I have mild post polio syndrome - of course, unknown at the time.
Thank you for a catalogue of specific and concise responses to vaccine skeptics. I would have added a chart showing how dramatically infection morbidity and mortality decreased as specific immunizations were introduced. And it is always important to be explicit that public health considerations and calculations almost always are different than the kinds of decisions which individuals rationally make for themselves. The lack of public and policy understanding of this difference allowed many unnecessary deaths during COVID.
Finally, it is worth noting that facts and discussions like this have marginal impact of most vaccine skeptics, whose perspective is governed by trust, emotional and ideological/political considerations. Also because they have lived a life protected from the various diseases due to herd immunity, their personal safe experiences in life distort their understanding of the issues.
I'm all in on vaccines. I was just at a new doctor/patient visit and the new doc told me my tetanus expired. I told her I will get any and every vaccine she recommends as soon as she recommends it. There's no reason to get sick if I can reasonably prevent it.
It's laughable that "vaccines are a victim of their success".
The truth is vaccines are a victim of their side effects. A critical mass of people now know of children and adults severely injured by these drugs. When they wonder how this could happen, they look into the science behind vaccines and are shocked.
Vaccines are a victim of their fraudulent and criminal lack of studies against placeboes like all other pharmaceutical drugs are required to have before being given to our children and citizens. This means WE CAN'T KNOW if vaccine benefit outweighs vaccine risks. Since the health of our children continues to decline, we need to find out if the dramatic increase in the number of pharmaceutical injections kids get is contributing to kids general health decline. There are many signs that they do. Pharmaceutical companies that fund most all vaccine studies rarely include placebo control groups, certainly don't pay millions to study vaccine risks directly, and wouldn't study vaccinated versus and vaccinated children. Why? Because those studies would threaten their guaranteed, liability-free profit stream. Does the local epidemiologist comprehensively read vaccine studies???
Vaccines are a victim of their adjuvents, which by definition are toxins that stimulate an immune response. Metal adjivants are in all vaccines, all metals are neurotoxins, and kids may already have a toxic load in their body. It is criminal that these have not been studied before being injected into babies and children. It's alarming that people inject toxins into a newborn baby's body.
Any benefits of vaccines are individual and shared, AND the risks of vaccines are also individual and shared. We literally and appallingly have an epidemic of childhood disease and autism in this country that correlates to the criminal rise of pharmaceutical injections into children. Correlation is an indicator of causation, and points to the need for in-depth scientific study, yet these haven't been done. Pharmaceutical companies certainly won't do these studies and risk their liability free, guaranteed profit stream in this country. And the unholy alliance between our government and pharma corporations prevents these studies from being done. Pharmaceutical companies are profit driven, and they have spent billions in advertising, government lobbying, grants to universities, and paying doctors "speaking fees". This has resulted in people thinking vaccines are this incredible wonder drug that will solve all infectious disease problems - no matter how many other toxins are also in these injections. It's a strange, entrenched belief system that is not backed by proper science.
Luckily individual pediatric practices are doing these studies. If you are pregnant or have young children, please look at these studies and decide for yourself if the risk is worth the benefit to your precious child.
Here is Dr Paul Thomas's study from his pediatric practice comparing the health of vaccinated versus partially vaccinated versus unvaccinated kids. Also here’s a video of a presentation he gave about the study that at the end includes an interview with the co-author. In the presentation he says he's been harassed ever since publishing this. Unvaccinated kids were healthier across the board; less incidents of ear infections, allergies, doctor's visits, infections, adhd, and autism.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/346088816_Relative_Incidence_of_Office_Visits_and_Cumulative_Rates_of_Billed_Diagnoses_Along_the_Axis_of_Vaccination#pf16
https://odysee.com/@nabilinho:4/drpaulthomas:1?r=5GNUjp39K1yG9gnv6227aftTzwyGX6dK
-Here is another study of vaccinated and unvaccinated kids at 3 pediatric clinics: Analysis of health outcomes in vaccinated and unvaccinated children: Developmental delays, asthma, ear infections and gastrointestinal disorders:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/341706986_Analysis_of_health_outcomes_in_vaccinated_and_unvaccinated_children_Developmental_delays_asthma_ear_infections_and_gastrointestinal_disorders
Doctors who have a reason to start reading vaccine studies finally see what anyone else has seen, including me, about the bad vaccine science passed off as good science. A couple examples…
-This is a 15 min interview with pediatric doctor Zajac who pressured all the families in his practice to fully vaccinate the kids according to the CDC recommended schedule. He started to notice the unvaccinated or partially vaccinated kids were healthier than the others. Then one of the kids had a serious vaccine side effect that he could not deny, and another baby died the day of receiving a vaccine. He then read the childhood vaccine studies and was shocked (as we all are) when he learned there's never any placebo control group. He loses 1.7 million dollars a year by not following the CDC schedule in his practice, which is quite a monetary incentive for doctors.
https://odysee.com/@VaxxedDoctors:c/Dr-Bob-Zajac-MD%2C-PhD:7?r=5GNUjp39K1yG9gnv6227aftTzwyGX6dK
-Dr Mackenzie started his career pro vaccine because of what he learned in medical school, and then found out the bad and fraudulent science when he had kids and needed to decide whether to vaccinate (he didn't follow the CDC schedule). He also talks about the vaccinated versus unvaccinated studies that could easily be done, but aren't.
https://odysee.com/@VaxxedDoctors:c/Dr-Douglas-Mackenzie-in-California:c?r=5GNUjp39K1yG9gnv6227aftTzwyGX6dK
-Dr Humphries prescribed vaccines as a doctor and didn't read the scientific literature until she met a group of unvaccinated kids and recognized they were healthier (the first 5 min). She then had three patients with sudden kidney disease after taking a flu shot (23min).
https://rumble.com/v4n2fk8-dr-suzanne-humphries-exposed-her-findings-the-deception-and-lies-of-vaccine.html
Here are 30 studies linking autism to vaccines that you won't hear about in the corporate-owned media: https://healthimpactnews.com/2013/30-scientific-studies-showing-the-link-between-vaccines-and-autism/
I caught measles in 1961, in 8th grade at boarding school in California. My home life was problematic so I begged to stay at school. Since there was no infirmary, I stayed in my room (my roommate had already had measles).
I recall feeling extremely hot one night as I tried to sleep. Suddenly, the fate of the world was in my hands: If I couldn't count from 400 down to 1 with perfect accuracy, everyone would die! I struggled and struggled, thrashing around. Finally I got up, walking down the dark hall, managed to find the bathroom, and threw cold water on my face.
Trying to return to bed (still counting), I could not recall which door along the hall led to my own bedroom. So I opened each one quietly, finally locating one in which there was an empty bed. I crawled in and must have slept, because the next thing I knew the dorm mother was saying, "Your mother's coming to take you home." It dawned on me that I'd bene hallucinating/
At home, our doctor visited an, I took aspirin. My mother gave me a succession of cool washcloths for my forehead and milk toast three times a day. Forbidden to read or watch TV, I simply lay there with the blinds closed so I wouldn't go blind. Once I realized how boring that was, I knew I was starting to heal. Recovery took about two weeks.
Sometimes I wonder if my difficulty hearing, which had gradually become quite a bit worse over time, came from having the measles as a young teen.
Thanks for this vivid recall of measles misery. I'm 82 and suffered through measles at age 5. I was luckier than my cousin, who developed meningitis. My little playmate next door was deaf because his mother had rubella. In the summer we children were all strictly forbidden to set foot in the park because of the fear of polio. That so many have forgotten this recent world -- or never knew about it -- concerns me deeply. Public education about public health is so badly needed, especially in our country!
Thank you for encouraging vaccinations. If you’ve ever known anyone who who was affected by one of these diseases, vaccination is just a no brainer.
Thank y'all for the reminders and great explanations!!
So glad to read this. People nowadays don't know about life during the onslaught of TB, measles, whooping cough, tetanus, mumps, rubella, etc. I've known people deaf from measles, die from tetanus, nearly die from diphtheria and whooping cough and have an abortion because of rubella. Also had ancestors mentally affected probably by measles meningitis. We must not forget how deadly these diseases are, how they affect one for the rest of one's life. Vaccines are always saving lives
I would summarize" If there were no objections based on cost, the best policy would be universal vaccination. The only "real" objection to universal vaccination comes from the anti-vax movement and politicians trying to win elections by fluffing anti-vaxxers.
You did not mention the fact that measles infection causes immune amnesia, presumably increasing vulnerability to other infections for some period after recovery from measles.
Quick timing question: Is there a change in the analysis of immediate benefit or immediate risk for the covid-19 vaccine when another member of the household gets covid?
I'm 60, have three risk factors for complications, and had my last vaccine booster in early April 2024. I'm planning to travel to family gatherings with older relatives (80s or 90s) at the end of September and Thanksgiving. Some of the September relatives are antivax. I was planning on getting my fall booster and flu shot this week. Then, on Sunday, my teenager tested positive. He has a fever and is isolating, and we're masking, keeping the windows open, and being careful. Nonetheless, we're living together in a small house.
If I get the vaccine today, how long before I receive any increased protection from transmission? If I've been exposed and may have not-yet-symptomatic-or-testable-infection, does getting vaccinated now pose any risk of an infection being worse? Should I wait a week and see if I get infected at home, or jump and get vaccinated immediately?
Thanks for this! "This is because the individual decision to get vaccinated changes the risk-benefit calculation for everyone. In other words, your probability of encountering measles is low because so many people around you are vaccinated." I like how you list what we can do for everyone first and then what it does for us. If more people thought like this, society would be a more team-spirited place.
Thank you! I am always heartbroken when a new parent who was all in on vaccines gets turned around by fear mongering friends neighbors and family … “just because”. I will spend unlimited time to work with parents on vaccines. Because it’s worth it.
Great “quick wins” explanations:-)
Fantastic explanations! Thank you!
I grew up before they were vaccines available for childhood diseases such as MMR. While this is anecdotal, I know a number of people who had adverse reactions, such as hearing loss and consequent speech issues. (I continue to see these folks in my psychotherapy practice, and know the impact this has had upon their confidence.) I am all in on vaccines, and freely share information from experts (with the disclaimer that I’m not a scientist). Thank you for what you do! And now…I’m off to get the updated COVID vaccine. If memory serves, I believe this will be #9. I’ve only had COVID once and, despite risk factors (age, asthma), it was a non-event. I am profoundly grateful for science!
I look forward to your emails! One thing I would point out about Rubella vaccine [and you are too young to remember], it is a very serious problem if a pregnant woman contracts Rubella. It causes birth defects. So many teachers who did not have Rubella as children and then were exposed as teachers and were pregnant had children born with birth defects. We don't see that any more! Rubella is not usually too serious a disease, but can cause serious issues with Congenital Rebell Syndrome. And of course, there are always those kids like you mentioned in the article who do suffer serious adverse affects from it. Thanks again for all your wonderful information!
Dodie Delaney, ANP
If International Travel is a VERY BIG FACTOR in the transmission of diseases, then WHY in the world is the Travel Industry & Countries not being required to use COMMON SENSE PROTOCOLS for visitors & incoming citizens to be tested to prevent diseases!!?? This is a "No-Brainer!" (Except for the brains of the "Almighty Gods of Profit & Greed" who DO in fact have brains but clearly no heart & no Soul for Humanity...) This world is now a "Post Pandemic Sh*t Show" -- thanks to the Billionaire's Boys Clubs/Psychopaths who put profit before human life...