As you’re facing the needle they’re about to stick in your baby’s thigh, just hours after he was born, there’s a part of you that screams “STOP!”
He’s so perfect and untouched. He hasn’t even had breast milk yet. This will be the first substance to enter his body. It doesn’t seem right.
Except for one thing. The only thing.
It could save his life. Is there really anything else that needs to be said?
If you’re not convinced, I only have one question. Are you willing to bet your baby’s life that you’re more intelligent and more informed than ALL the scientists and doctors?
That’s a bet I’d never take. I mean, I’m pretty freakin’ smart (just ask me) but I will admit I’m lacking a medical degree.
I am smart enough to know what I don’t know and I’m not arrogant enough to assume I know more than the people who have dedicated years of their life to this research. So when it comes to my child’s medical care, I’m happy to outsource to the professionals because a few hours on Google has never made anyone an expert in anything, let alone saving a child’s life. And over-estimating your intelligence could have deadly consequences for your child.
The US is in the middle of the biggest outbreak of measles in 15 years. The disease was declared eradicated in 2000, but now it’s back with a vengeance because it has become quasi-trendy to be an ‘anti-vaxxer.’
Hipsters, ‘crunchy’ mums, educated parents and middle class families have been swept up in a weird movement of anti-vaccination evangelists because they believe they’ve “done the research” and can “think for themselves.”
They’re not different or special. They’re sheep, just like everyone else, but following a smaller, crazier herd led by zealots like ‘Dr’ Sherri Tenpenny. A woman who tells parents that vaccinations are poison and will give their children autism. ‘Dr’ Tenpenny is an osteopath with zero qualifications in immunology but a rapidly growing following. She was due to come out on a speaking tour to Australia next month, but a social media backlash caused her to cancel the tour. Thank Christ for that. This woman believes the Sandy Hook Massacre was caused by vaccines. Yes.
And then there’s Jenny McCarthy, a celebrity who campaigns tirelessly against vaccines which she believes gave her son autism. She’s super influential because of her Phd…. whoops, no sorry she doesn’t have any qualifications. She’s got nothing except an impressive rig and Jim Carrey for an ex.
I JUST DON’T UNDERSTAND.
I don’t understand parents that believe all of this. Educated, intelligent parents who swallow plate after plate of bonafide SHITE from these people with no expertise in the area. Parents who put real effort into finding out more information and STILL decide to ignore the overwhelming science in favour of the obscure conspiracy theories in the deep dark corners of the internet. They choose to jump on board with the morons who believe it’s better to contract a potentially deadly disease than to vaccinate against those diseases. Smart, caring parents who honestly buy into the idea that this is all a big hoax. A very well coordinated, very well funded, worldwide hoax. FOR FUCK’S SAKE.
I’m not going to go into all the facts about vaccinations BECAUSE I’M NOT A DOCTOR OR A SCIENTIST, right? So I shouldn’t be spouting information that I’m not qualified to spout.
What I can tell you is that I trust the thousands of doctors who have studied MILLIONS of children who tell me I should vaccinate my child. I trust them when they tell me that every single argument put forth by an anti-vaxxer is factually incorrect and harmful. (seriously, ALL of them. Even the “shedding” and “if your kid is vaccinated then they’re not at risk, so you shouldn’t care” arguments – they’re wrong too). I trust they know the science that tells us how to save children’s lives.
But, you know, if you hate facts you should definitely listen to an osteopath or a former playboy model about saving your child’s life and eradicating preventable diseases from the face of the earth. Because they’re right and every other scientist on the planet is wrong or trying to trick you into paying money to the big pharma companies so they can inject your child with dead baby cow foetus. You should make sure you stay totally natural and trust that your body knows how to protect you from ancient, deadly diseases.
Oh, but do you know what else is “natural”? DYING. That’s nature. Survival of the fittest. Our race isn’t supposed to have a life expectancy in the 80s. Not every child is supposed to live. The weak are supposed to be killed off so the strong survive and thrive.
NATURE.
Yes, vaccinations are a big FUCK YOU to nature. Vaccinations are like, “oh, you want to kill off millions of babies every year? How about you go fuck yourself Nature? How about I save all those babies. What are you going to do about it, you pussy??”
Look Nature, I know you’ve got plans. I feel you. But, my plan is to keep my child alive, m’kay? So, don’t mind me while I totally cheat and stick a needle in his arm so you can’t come and get him until he’s a cranky old man. Got it? I’m not even going to feel guilty about it. Outwitted, Outplayed, Outsmarted. Survivor bitchez.
Yes, it’s playing God. Yes, when we keep millions of children alive, who ought to be killed off by childhood diseases, it causes serious overpopulation. I’m ok with that. I reckon if we’re smart enough to cheat death, we’re smart enough to come up with a solution to overpopulation that doesn’t involve giving horrible, painful diseases to little babies.
I’m sorry if this is harsh, but the anger directed towards anti-vaxxers comes from the absolute knowledge that you are SO FUCKING WRONG. You’re like a bunch of seemingly well adjusted, loving parents who are trying to tell the world the sky is green or that cigarettes cure lung cancer. You are just so infuriatingly wrong and you are putting people’s lives at risk. You are siding with DESPICABLE HUMANS like Dr Jack Wolfson, who said last week that he would be FINE if another child died after catching something from one of his unvaccinated children. Because his children are “pure”. GAAAHHHHH!!!! A doctor. Quite ok with kids dying. Can you see how that might make someone feel a bit murdery?
I’m going to take a few moments to breathe, so I’ll leave you with some words from Roald Dahl, whose daughter died from measles when she was 7.
I don’t even know if I want to ask a question about this…. I’m too scared I’ll explode from rage…
Look, it’s normally lots of light and fun on here, so join me for a few laughs on The Thud’s Facebook page.
46 comments
Excellent article. My first degree was in genetics. I ‘get’ science. Which means I know enough to know that I am 0% qualified to have an ‘opinion’ on vaccines, global warming, covid, or anything else that requires expert knowledge. I know this because I understand science. Science is not about one or two loud voices saying sciencey stuff to get famous or wealthy. Science is about retesting the same basic hypothesis a gajillion times till we have such strong consensus that we can confidently say, “Vaccines are safe” or “evolution is a fact,” or “Sherri Tenpenny should STFU and stick to the one narrow field she’s qualified to give an opinion about.” This anti-science wave is literally killing people. ANYBODY spreading “alternate facts” so that others can “do their own research” should be deplatformed. It should basically be — if you know enough to get your research in a peer-reviewed academic journal, you can post your opinions and advice on facebook. Else, fuck off. Thanks for the article.
What a bunch of garbage. You believe an article by someone who won’t even put their last name on an article? Please.
What an interesting point from a troll who doesn’t even post under a real *first* name… or offer any counterpoints at all. Why not use your real name? Why not actually try to argue with the content? I’m guessing it’s because you are a coward with no well-reasoned, factual arguments against anything in this article. Just shush, then.
So, by their own admission, this vaccine doesn’t guarantee you won’t get Covid, nor does it guarantee you wont spread it, and you can’t sue the manufactures if you get injured. I think we know who the real lemmings are.
Common sense isn’t so common unfortunately.
Mark, you simply do not understand (1) how vaccines work (none are 100% effective… but they don’t need to be since the real goal is herd immunity); (2) how scientific studies work (they can’t make conclusions about things they did not explicitly test for in any given study, so in this case, they cannot rule out the possibility of asymptomatic spreaders among those vaccinated, since they did not explicitly look at that… but the probability of that is very very low); and (3) yes, if a vaccine harms you (in the USA), there are two federal programs that offer compensation for injury, without the need for a lawsuit. Finally, lemmings are lovely little animals with a mythical reputation for following each other to their deaths. They don’t actually do that, which you would probably know– if you did some research for yourself instead of repeating a falsehood someone else repeated to you. Hmm, there seems to be a theme here.
Please, everyone, go get the FACTS from reputable sources and use those as the basis for your opinions. Stop listening to whomever is spinning this disinformation! Stop helping spread misinformation. COVID-19 can kill you! The vaccines are our only meaningful weapons against this virus and the only way we will get back to some semblance of normalcy. Get informed and then get protected– with a vaccine!
Even though a person could potentially still get the virus with the vaccine, it does so far keep people from dying from it or even from being hospitalized. Those are both major accomplishments. 500K+ American families wish they could have had this vaccine soon enough to save their loved ones. And even more who lived but were hospitalized and racked up debilitating medical bills and/or long-term covid symptoms. So it absolutely makes sense to get it.
Why does Lauren refer to herself as “journo” rather than journalist. Really don’t get that. Diminishes credibility.
Thank you. In an age when so many base their opinions on social media content, and have never learned where to go to obtain facts rather than conspiracy or snake oil, it’s important for rational people to speak up rather than just giving an eyeroll and moving on.
Ignorant and very arrogant. You have NO idea how much information you are missing . “You don’t know what you don’t know”.
OMGOSH, you sound sooo ridiculous how you try to discredit anyone who has an opposing belief to your own. You think people with non-mainstream beliefs about this stuff are just watching 20yr old YouTubers and getting their info there?? How utterly ridiculous.
Most people advocating for no vaccines (or at least to change the formulations of current vaccines) are looking to/listening to qualified scientists and Drs. The whole vaccine (&pharma) industry is a mass brainwashing and people like yourself who are not open minded will refuse point blank to consider other studies or information because they don’t want to be wrong.
There is a saying, “You don’t know what you don’t know” …you are showing your ignorance by yelling and screaming about something that you don’t know about and have not taken the time to consider the possibility that there may be a whole other narrative going on. Delusional trust in the ‘system’. Your eye’s are open yet you are blind.
And there we have it: hello Dunning Kruger!
Present your facts to the contrary, then. Oh, right… you cannot possibly have any because there are no facts on your side. Again, I say: shush!
Probably because there is no opposing view, other than “I’m a self-centered idiot who will gamble with my childs life”. Vaccinate your children. Vaccinate yourself. Stay out of my MICU. Stay off my ventilator. Some people pizz me off.
Troy Schleben, RRT
@MM
Hmmmm… Dunning Kruger! at its BEST! What a DELUDED PoSHYTE you really are!
Go BACK to the middle ages because that is where YOU belong!
Great blog Lauren! I saw this recently: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YCGMqp6kBE. It made me laugh, but also seemed to really capture the true essence of the debate. Now. How to set interpretive dance to the music.
Gosh I’m glad you went where you did with this. I saw the heading and reading the first few paragraphs and I was ready to go in for the fight.
Damn good work!
I am a medical person and people who tell me their child isn’t vaccinated scare the heck out of me- I wrote this a while back for those people http://seekingvictory.blogspot.com.au/2013/11/drugs-are-not-safe-but-they-can-save.html
Anti-vaxxers need to spend time in a NICU with babies who have these illnesses just to see what their ‘choices’ result in. I am so pro-vaccines. The only reason diseases have been eradicated is because of them! My nephew (24 yr old) has aspergers and my sister has never once blamed vaccines. Kids with autism/aspergers are just born that way, and you know, it’s not the worst thing that could happen to a kid.
Live by nature,die by nature.That’s all that needs to be said. Nature isn’t kind.
All nature wants is procreation…..the more the better because a lot of babies die from childhood disease.
For those who don’t agree with vaccination look back in history pre vaccination and look at the statistics. In the 1920s, there were an estimated 100,000 to 200,000 cases of diphtheria per year in the United States, causing 13,000 to 15,000 deaths per year….a shocking death….slow suffocation.Even one child shouldn’t die like that.
In Australia, at the height of the 1921 epidemic, there were 23,199 notifications (annual notification rate 426 per 100,000 population)1 and, in the decade between 1926 and 1935, there were 4,043 deaths from diphtheria.
Think about it.
I got whooping cough when our eldest was a baby. So did my sister, my dad, my sister’s mother in law and my nephew. It ripped through most of the family. My boy was sick too but he’d been vaccinated and just had nasty flu symptoms. I on the other hand coughed and coughed and coughed and felt dreadful and had four courses of antibiotics and took about six weeks to get better. I struggled to sleep with all of the coughing (not to mention getting up to a baby). I was 37. I cannot imagine what it would be like for a tiny baby to suffer with the same thing.
I wasn’t living in an isolated community in the northern NSW hinterland either. I was in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs. Whooping cough is entirely preventable if everyone is vaccinated but obviously everyone is not.
Love your shouty ranty post Lauren 🙂
I know exactly where you’re coming from. I had whooping cough when my youngest was a baby. I was 29 and sick for months! I cannot fathom how people can let their kids be exposed to these illnesses without immunising them!
Oh, you are bang on the money, sister. I write about this regularly for work at Kidspot – where we are continually told we should be more balanced … show both sides.
No deal, fuckerinos. There is only ONE side. Vaccinate, doucheholes.
Oh Jesus, I deleted a whole ramble about “balance” in journalism because it was all getting a bit shouty. In fact I think this post was mostly inspired by the comments calling for “unbiased journalism” on sites like Kidspot. Newsflash people: journalists do NOT need to provide “balance” when one side is fact and the other side is bullshit. Especially when reporting on the bullshit could seriously mislead people into making dangerous choices for their children. Journalists do not need to give airtime to every crackpot with an opposing view. It would be irresponsible.
Exactly. With two opposing views, the truth doesn’t necessarily lie somewhere in the middle; it is possible for one side to be completely right and the other completely wrong.
My children are 8 and 4 and I was very torn about vaccinations. More so, the ones that they give like 3 in one hit. That didn’t sit comfortably with me.
Instead, I arranged with our practice to issue them individually over a period of a few weeks. But they still got vaccinated.
I have worked with teens & adults who have autism. Not once did a parent ever say they thought they kid was autistic because of immunisations. Jenny McCarthy is a fuckwit as is every parent who doesn’t immunise their kid.
If you think having a kid with autism is the worst thing that can happen to your kid then you are a fuckwit. The worst thing that can happen is that your kid dies from a preventable disease. You will still get to love your kid & hug your kid & watch your kid grow if they have autism. If your kid dies because you were a fuckwit & didn’t get them immunised you’ll never get to do any of that stuff.
Sorry but it just makes me so damn mad!
I asked my doctor whether he vaccinated his kids, his answer was “Yes”….that was good enough for me!
BEST. What else do you need to know!?
i am so pleased you have written this Lauren. It is so frustrating hearing adults say “it’s our choice” whether we vaccinate or not. It actually really upsets me that people who choose to not vaccinate not only put their own children at risk, but put all the medically fragile, old, very young, and pregnant women at risk.
I always wonder if those who do not vaccinate also do not give their children panadol (science), sunscreen (science), ventolin for asthma (science), etc etc…Things that absolutely save lives in 2015. It doesn’t make any logical sense to me.
It makes me sad that now we have to worry about these diseases once again, even if we have vaccinated our children!
Do you reckon they’d use chemo if their child got cancer? Literally a poison that will make your child sick, but could also save their life?
Sadly some anti-vaxxers are anti sunscreen, anti-Panadol, anti-fluoride, anti anything that might improve your life…
Sigh.
My nephew isn’t vaccinated and when I dared to ask why his mother told me he doesn’t need to be because all the diseases are virtually eradicated. I asked my brother next – I just wanted to understand their ‘logic’, It was quite frightening to listen to an intelligent man sound like he had been brainwashed – but he was SO forceful and relentless in his logic it was scary and I had no comeback. Other than – get the kid immunised and save other kids.
I thought schools wouldn’t accept kids who weren’t immunised? But my nephew goes to nursery. I wouldn’t mind but they took him to Mexico when he was 10 months old and next month they are going to S Africa – it totally freaks me out.
Anyway, I don’t have kids so I’m not allowed an opinion on child rearing (YES I’ve been told that hahaha!)
Nancy, I understand this comment more than I can say. Same issue within my family. And same concern when you hear intelligent people spout off stuff that only a lunatic would say. It’s terrifying. And when it’s your flesh and blood who are at risk, it’s even scarier.
And travelling to developing countries without any vaccinations just sounds reckless and negligent to me. I really feel for you. I’d be in a panic as well xxx
Yes. Yes. Yes. If I nodded my head any more fervently in agreement I might snap a vertebrae. It is bullshit, this ridic anti-vax movement. I don’t get how they can be so blind to the CONCLUSIVE, EVIDENCE BASED, STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT research that has proven that vaccinations do not cause ASD. Holy shit, there are so many factors involved in ASD, a needle ain’t one of them. And what would they prefer? A child who is alive, with them, and has ASD ( if we go by their warped logic of vax causing ASD. And which by the way isn’t a BAD thing to have. It’s simply a different way of processing things and seeing the world, many people with ASD do so many amazing things and lead fantastic lives), or a child who is dead? It’s a no-brainer.
I am SO agreeing with this. BIG TIME. *Even if* they did cause autism, I’d take that risk any day. I don’t see how it’s even an issue. I know a few people on the spectrum and they’re perfectly fine, functioning human beings (after some fantastic therapy) with a different spin on the world. So what? Is that so scary you’d rather risk your child’s life?! If people told you a car seatbelt could give autism, would you say, “oh well, not putting it on. Let’s head off down this freeway with he kids just rolling around on the back seat!”
Mind boggling.
I totally 100% agree with vaccination!! I once studied early childhood and voiced an opinion very similar to yours. I’d be furious if I found out an unvaccinated kid was in my kids class. I was then harshly abused by anti-vac mothers who thought it was perfectly acceptable to have their kids mix with mine “hypothetically” as they would be safe due to majority of class being vaccinated. That was enough to protect their child and mine! Outrageous!!!! I understand there are tragic cases in which it has affected children badly, but without it I’d say we’d have a far bigger problem!! I left that study group in the end – I was flabbergasted!!
There’s just no getting through to these people. It’s really so frustrating. They are so blind to all the facts. The science couldn’t be more clear-cut and they still deny it.
I love it! You are funny even when you are on a rant. 100% agree with you although I have some friends who don’t vaccinate and deliberately put their children in harms way. searching out a disease to expose their children too believing that the disease will give a greater immunity in the future than the vaccine itself. It’s all madness and I can see the Vaxers are starting to get annoyed with this movement and are voicing their opinions now. Good on you for putting yours out there.
That REALLY blows my mind when I hear about people going to Pox parties etc. Who in their right mind makes their child sick on purpose? You can’t control these illnesses. You don’t know how they’ll develop in your child. I’ve read articles by people saying “it’s not like my child is going to die from measles” – which makes me want to punch people because THOUSANDS of kids die from measles every year. It can give you brain damage, make you blind, kill you!!! People are so dumb it makes me want to cry.
You make me laugh. Even when you’re ranty. Especially when you’re ranty! And right. You’re so right. I’m so pro-vax.
This is toned down ranty. Way turned down.
As a mother who has lost two of her children, and has then gone on to watch her living children spend their first weeks and months fighting for life I do EVERYTHING and ANYTHING in my power to protect them. Yes watching our big boy have his first vaccinations at 8 weeks old when he still weighed just 2.6kg (it was still before his due date) was horrible, but compared to the possible alternatives I would do it again in a heart beat.
Oh my goodness Lauren I’m so so sorry to hear that. And you have more right than anyone to get angry about this, because you know exactly what the risks are.
It’s so entitled and arrogant to walk around thinking disease and death will just skip past your family. It can reach any family in any income bracket, in any city. I can’t understand how some people would gamble with their kids lives.
I one trillion percent agree with you! It makes me so angry that people think they have the right to put MY children’s lives at risk. My now 4 year old son ended up on hospital with an unknown virus after each his first 3 lots of vaccinations but not even once did I think of not getting him vaccinated or not getting my daughter after him vaccinated. It’s just a no brainer to me! My now 19 month old daughter draws a crowd at vaccination time because she laughs, holds out her hand for a jelly bean and says “Ta” and off she goes with a wave to the Dr. Health benefits aside, the entertainment factor is reason enough to take her for them!
Haha! Your daughter sounds like a proper cutie. And I’m so glad that the adverse reactions didn’t put you off. There are always risks with everything, but to me, the risks of not vaccinating are just too big. Especially now there are all these unvaccinated kids floating around carrying these bugs with them. If my child wasn’t vaccinated (or couldn’t be for medical reasons) I’d be really nervous to be out in public with him.
I was talking about this with some friends yesterday, and wondering whether anti-vaxxers would change their tune if the outbreaks were polio instead of measles. If this was happening to children again (warning, link contains VERY disturbing images of children with polio. And not from 50 years ago. From now). http://blogs.babycenter.com/mom_stories/3-26-2014-unvaccinated-inside-one-moms-agonizing-life-with-polio/ Would that make this real to them?
That was tough to read. People in this generation have never seen diseases like that so they have no idea what they’re risking. They do all this research on what *might* happen if they vaccinate their kids but so little research on what might happen if they don’t.