well this should be an interesting comment thread
Or I could be wrong and the luck dragon has already taken care of the rabid antivax sorts here already.
I don’t vaccinate my kitty for anything because he gets sick every single time, which then costs more money to treat.
But I homeschool him, and we never take him out to public places like Disneyland. (Actually, he never goes outside because he’s too scared.)
Is this comment controversial enough for your amusement?
That’s called a medical exemption, and I don’t think anyone cares that medically exempted people/animals aren’t vaccinated.
You also keep it quarantined. That’s what should be imposed on any family who refuses to vaccinate on any grounds other than medical.
They’re back?!?!? Hooray!!!
I agree. And when our other cat and our dog were alive, we kept them current on their vaccinations to help protect the herd, or in this case the herd of one.
Nearly 100% preventable with a cheap or free shot that has practically zero side-effects:
This is what the antivaxxers have accomplished. They honestly believe more of that is a reasonable decision, and that makes them too dangerous to go unchallenged every minute of every day.
I’m pretty sure my brother unfriended me on Facebook because I keep posting stuff about vaccinating your damn kids. He’s convinced vaccinations are terrible, despite having an older sister (me, in case that wasn’t clear) who is a Rubella baby.
If I don’t stop talking now, I’ll end up dominating the conversation, but let me just say, as far as I’m concerned, not vaccinating your kids is child abuse and needs to be criminally punishable if there isn’t a valid medical excuse.
@TobinL Right, let’s get this started!
I’ve always kind of thought of the anti-vaccination movement as a social illness. The people in the movement seem otherwise reasonable, but then they get one terrible, faulty idea in their head that’s just convincing and alarming enough to make them propagate it to as many other people as possible. When enough people are convinced of the idea, the idea becomes intractable and then society stops functioning correctly in some aspect. I’ve seen this here and in several other areas, but don’t want to get sidetracked so I’ll just stick with this one.
Is there an effective process for treating an entire society when it comes down with a dangerous, harmful idea? Presenting facts doesn’t seem to work, people just double down and insist its conspiracies all the way down. We can’t force people to stop thinking something because obvious reasons. And even when you cut out the root of the idea, people apparently just keep right on truckin along. So what can we do?
Typing those words made me feel a bit icky. I know I’m treading a very fine line between a responsible society and for-real fascism, but we can’t really avoid treading that line can we? People are actually dying now because we can’t seem to isolate or counteract horrible ideas. It’s incredibly frustrating and depressing.
As far as I can tell, over the years I’ve been a pro-vaccine guy, the the thing that most reliably changes an antivaxxer’s mind is their children getting sick, and sometimes dying.
But that’s no way to convince someone. The ends don’t justify the means. And it’s only the most reliable way I know, and doesn’t even crack the 50% level. A lot of people will consider their kid dying their fault because they just didn’t give them enough St. John’s Wart, or Ecinechia or sugar pills.
Vaccinate, don’t vaccinate. I don’t care, none of my business. No one’s but the family and parents really.
It’s absolutely your business, even if you and your children are vaccinated properly, there’s a small chance it wasn’t effective. People who don’t vaccinate their children are putting other people’s lives at risk.
It’s absolutely everyone’s business in this case.
Vaccination isn’t like smoking weed. It’s not a personal preference thing that doesn’t effect everyone you come in contact with. Not vaccinating is a real and dangerous threat to both oneself and others.
Manifestly wrong.
Meh. The slight risk is better than the tyrannical idea that you and your families body belongs to the society and you yourself.
Sorry but the “herd” mentality doesn’t jive with me at all. No one owes me anything on that level of it goes against what they believe is best for them and their family. I don’t think you or I have that right to infringe on another like that.
What’s next? forcing people to take other meds? Where does that mentality stop. Do we really want to be wards of the state?
Your small chance doesn’t compare to the large chance of what that kind of thinking can do to ruin individual freedom and ownership of oneself.
Can’t we just have something like Seal Team 6 swoop in and dart unvaccinated families with vaccines as they sleep? Their right to ignorance would be preserved, as would my right to not have them infect me with a preventable disease?
The herd immunity idea doesn’t sit well with me. I don’t buy into the concept at all. The individual doesn’t owe what they feel or deem against their best interest for the herd. There bodies belong to them and they choose what they do with it. I have no right to tell them otherwise for my interest.
It’s my opinion and you aren’t changing it. I know the facts and arguments and feel the individual rights trump all. Even though I personally think forgoing most vaccines is crazy. The flu vax is the only one I really have no interest in getting or use for. Right now anyways. When I’m old and have a weak immune system I’lll get one.
Perhaps if there were a vaccine for that…Wait…Dammit!
Just because you don’t buy into the concept doesn’t make it false. Herd immunity is as close to proven as any other thing in medicine and science and to deny its value is to deny the value of the individual.
I have a right not to get sick as much or more than your right to be lazy and/or fearful and not vaccinate your children.
