Recently, there has been a lot of debate about vaccinations, with anti-vax sentiment gaining support in many conservative areas. And this debate is symptomatic of the increasing polarization of the country. The problem with the entire vaccination debate is that there are huge problems with both sides of the discussion, and reasonable people can understand those issues. But as soon as someone attempts to act reasonably, they are attacked from both sides. So, let’s dive right into the middle.
First of all, even though Kennedy claims otherwise, there is no real debate that childhood vaccinations work well and save lives for the traditional childhood diseases. Measles, chicken pox, whooping cough, polio, smallpox etc. have all been successfully conquered with childhood vaccinations. There is no doubt of this, the statistics on the death rates before and after the nationwide implementation of these vaccines cannot be reasonably challenged.
In the late 1990s, a British quack physician named Andrew Wakefield came out with the very quickly disproven and debunked claim that these vaccines caused autism. Even a few minutes of cursory research showed that the increase in autism diagnoses was entirely due to better diagnosis of the condition, not an actual increase in the condition. Now whether it is appropriate to label a child who would have simply been called different 20 years previously as autistic is an entirely different question, but the increased number of diagnoses was entirely due to better detection. This was established quickly. After Wakefield continued with his claims, his methodology was investigated, and his medical license was rightfully pulled. Sadly, his claims still have life as shown by the current claims of Robert Kennedy, and his faithful followers.
Recently, due to the inefficacy of the COVID vaccines and the well-known side effects, the anti-vax community has regained a certain amount of respectability and has proceeded to lump the highly effective childhood vaccines into the anti-COVID vaccine campaigns.
Childhood vaccines are for virii that mutate rarely. Chicken Pox, Measles, Polio, Pertussis, etc. And those vaccines have proven efficacy. Millions of lives are saved each year thanks to those vaccines, with the vaccines successfully protecting the vast majority that can take the vaccines safely, as well as protecting by herd immunity the small minority that are allergic to one or more ingredients of the vaccine. Once again, no serious person can challenge this, the data is absolutely clear on these childhood vaccines. And each of these vaccines was examined and test for years before a nationwide vaccine program was instituted for them. And the decades of use have proven their safety. Childhood vaccines work by providing immunity for almost all those vaccinated, and herd immunity for those that cannot be vaccinated for medical conditions, or for whom the vaccine doesn’t work.
However, the COVID (and flu) vaccines are not nearly this effective. And in the case of the COVID vaccine, it was instituted quickly and without a huge amount of testing. The testing was clearly insufficient on young people, and the data showed from the start that young people were not seriously threatened by COVID. People like me, overweight and in late middle age and older are and were in the most danger from COVID. And that is who the vaccine was originally targeted for and tested on. And the vaccine worked for those people, at least for several months. It also quickly became apparent that the COVID vaccines also did not provide the herd immunity of the earlier vaccines, most likely due to the rapid mutation of the COVID virus.
But it was quickly determined that among young men, and to a lesser extent young women, there was a small chance of a dangerous heart condition. And a review of the data made it fairly clear that the chance of the heart condition, though miniscule, was actually greater than the even more miniscule danger from COVID itself to the healthy young person. This danger was covered up, lied about, suppressed on social media, and declared false by the mouthpieces of the current administration, even though the data was clear. This cover up by the news media and the government, and subsequent discovery and publication, is the reason that all vaccinations are now being called into question by such self-publicists as Robert Kennedy.
Now if Kennedy had restricted his attacks to mandatory COVID vaccines, he would have a valid point and a debate on the subject could begin. But Kennedy’s action in continuing to attack the efficacy of childhood vaccinations whose proof can be easily seen simply by examining the mortality rates of various diseases is criminal and will kill (strong word, but accurate) some of he children of parents who believe him.
https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/measles-cases-and-death-rate
https://www.cdc.gov/pertussis/surv-reporting/cases-by-year.html
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1041693/united-states-all-time-child-mortality-rate/
The data above is unequivocal, childhood vaccines save lives.
Sadly, Kennedy has chosen to extend his valid attacks on COVID vaccines into invalid and scientifically baseless attacks on childhood vaccines. If Kennedy cannot admit the absolutely clear and indisputable science about childhood vaccines, he loses most of his credibility about COVID vaccines and can be rightfully (and accurately) classified as a crackpot. Good scientists very rarely refer to anything as ‘settled science’. Perhaps the single area in science that we can safely say is settled is the efficacy of childhood vaccinations.
That being said, Kennedy’s potential dance partner seems to be almost as bad, but on the other side of the debate. Peter Hotez continues to claim that the COVID vaccine is safe and effective and should be given to everyone, despite convincing evidence to the contrary.
The two of them can be used as archetypes for unreasonable extremism now dominating US politics. In the case of vaccinations, as in most of politics, there are shades of grey that absolutely must be discussed in order to have any sort of reasoned debate on the topic. Extremism hurts this country, and as in this case, can kill people. Conflating childhood vaccinations with the COVID and flu vaccinations is criminal and dangerous.
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