My Vaccine Rant

Okay, here it is. I wasn’t going to write a post on this because honestly, dealing with people opposed to vaccinations is an absolute nightmare. If you want a good example, you can check out this Instagram post of mine in which I had a bit of a run-in with some anti-vaccination people. As soon as I (and thank goodness some of my followers jumped in to help) started giving out some scientific proof supporting vaccinations, the anti-vaxxers started hurling out accusations that I was gaslighting them.

I don’t think they know what gaslighting means. (If you don’t know, I suggest Googling it because I find it a very difficult concept to explain – here’s a helpful link to the Wikipedia page!)

Anyway, moving on. Talk around vaccinations has once again reached a critical level, all because of this Instagram post Kat Von D (she’s a famous tattooer/vegan advocate/makeup lady/ignorant person – oops sorry, too much of my opinion) shared about her upcoming pregnancy. In it, she proudly declares she isn’t vaccinating. Not only that, she has the audacity to say she will delete negative comments – which, after hearing about some of the comments deleted, really just means comments that go against her anti-vaccination stance, as a lot of them were not mean or vicious, just stating facts.

Speaking of audacity, she also mentions – and I’m paraphrasing a bit here – tired of being “discriminated” against and being “hated on” and “judged” and “insulted” for being openly vegan. Uh…I’m not one to talk, as I come from a place of privilege, but I’m pretty sure that being openly vegan – which is a choice – is not comparable to someone who is, I don’t know…I can’t think of anything that would inflict more discrimination on a person, honestly. How dare she not eat animal products? How vile and not human of her.

Just kidding. What about being black? Disabled? Trans? Gay/lesbian/bisexual/asexual/etc? Any combination of these?

I point this out merely to state that her view of the world is somehow warped, and it has been warped by privilege. Now, I don’t know how her life started or where she comes from. I do know she is a woman (duh) and I think she’s Latina, so I would assume she did work a bit to get to the lofty, comfortable life she has now. If she started from humble roots, though, she has definitely forgotten where she came from.

Anti-vaxxers typically come from a place of privilege. It is a privilege to look at a helpful, useful, beneficial medical tool that has saved thousands of lives and go, “You know what, my child doesn’t need that in their life. They don’t need that protection. I’m willing to take the risk that they contract a deadly or life altering disease and also pass this on to other children who may be immune compromised.”

It’s heartbreaking to hear some of the stories that people share about being immunosuppressed or being allergic to specific vaccines and their anxiety and worry that they could contract some of these diseases (that were previously eradicated by vaccines) because some parents think they’re too good for them, that their child is somehow special and doesn’t need to be vaccinated.

Not vaccinating equals privilege, simple as that. Do you think there are people in third world countries – countries that might not have access to all the vaccines we do in the US – who would look at vaccines, look at the potential they have, and be like, “Nah, I’ll risk death through an agonizing disease.” Even if you explained the risks – allergic reaction, mild symptoms associated with the disease, shoulder injuries, etc. – do you honestly think they would hesitate? Would a mother in a less fortunate country hesitate if she knew there were some dangers she could protect her child from, even if there was a small risk of them getting sick anyway? I’m going to go out on a limb here and say no, but maybe that’s just my opinion.

A lot of these families who decide not to vaccinate are all for the “super healthy lifestyle.” You probably know what I’m talking about – smoothies every day, yoga on the daily, “detox” teas. Many times – Kat Von D is a good example – they also wave the banner of cruelty free. Not always vegan, but sometimes. (Just a side note: anti-vaccination and veganism DO NOT go hand-in-hand in my mind. Some vaccination ingredients aren’t vegan, but most people who are vegans understand this is a necessity.) How can you pose as cruelty free when you are being openly cruel to your child? Not only that, but every child your child will ever interact with in the future? It’s baffling.

My absolute favorite argument that anti-vaxxers make is, “Well, these vaccinations are for diseases that don’t even exist anymore. Look at polio, we don’t have polio anymore.”

…

People don’t get polio because people started to get vaccinated for polio and surprise, people didn’t get polio any more. Polio isn’t a thing because vaccines made it not a thing.

Here’s another myth I would like to debunk that I’ve seen a lot of people bringing up lately, and it’s related to autism and the MMR vaccine. There is a gene called Mthfr that has been linked to autism. Certain mutations in this gene are linked to a person being placed on the autism spectrum. There was a comment I read where someone (an anti-vaxxer) was explaining that when you get the MMR vaccine, it always mutates the Mthfr gene and will lead to autism. Now, this person is probably not a scientist, but in science, the answer is never “always.” In addition, there are absolute zero papers (ZERO) that talk about MMR and Mthfr or link them in any way. Seriously, if you search in PubMed “MMR vaccine and MTHFR,” you’ll get the little message saying, “No documents match your search terms.” You can try it, here’s a link to PubMed.

This is not to say that vaccines are 100% safe. There is a chance that someone could have a bad reaction to one, or that they could be injured from the injection process. Some anti-vaxxers use the argument that vaccine injuries are on the rise, which means that vaccines can no longer be deemed safe. Here’s the thing: vaccine-related injuries and negative reactions – things like shoulder injuries due to the needle being inserted too far or a reaction to the needle – are on the rise because more vaccines are being given out to people. The sheer number of vaccinations is increasing – especially in recent years with the push to get a flu vaccine every year – so the number of vaccine injuries are increasing as a natural consequence.

However, no matter the risks, the benefits will always outweigh them. The Center for Disease Control has boatloads of information on vaccines and they also outline common vaccine safety questions with straightforward answers. When a parent decides to not vaccinate their child, they are not only endangering their own child, they are endangering all the children around them. Parents who don’t vaccinate are making a decision for their child that could affect their health for the rest of their life.

Anyway, I think I’ll end the post here. I have a lot of feelings on this topic and if I keep going it’s going to get to be too long. In the end, when it comes to the vaccinate or don’t vaccinate debate, there are a lot of strong feelings floating around on both sides. That makes it difficult to have a civilized discussion between the two parties. I will say this: if you’re an anti-vaxxer, listen to the science and listen to the facts without anger, without yelling, and without false accusations of gaslighting (seriously, this last one is extremely frustrating for someone who is simply presenting the facts). If you support vaccination, listen to the fear and try to connect with people’s emotions, as sometimes simply stating facts and citing studies can come across as robotic and cold.

That being said, I will never be on the side of anti-vaxxers. It’s silly to scorn something that is so obviously helpful and has saved countless lives. While it’s difficult to confront the issue, it’s important to bring it out into the open to try to reach an understanding. Good luck to us all.