Posts: 1,858
Threads: 46
Joined: Apr 2015
quote:
Originally posted by Rob Tucker
There is an exemption for the school system vaccinations for home schooled and privately schooled children.
If a family wants to take their child out to the public areas then practical health measures should be mandatory. To not do so is stupidity.
Posts: 1,440
Threads: 4
Joined: Sep 2014
Two words.....: microchipz.
Posts: 14,115
Threads: 424
Joined: Aug 2012
You're required to license/permit/insure your vehicle prior to operating it on any public roadway; vaccinations are no different. Public health and safety, period.
Posts: 11,022
Threads: 750
Joined: Sep 2012
There were people against the smallpox vaccine, which is why it took so long for the disease to be eradicated in the U.S. The polio vaccine was better received, and quickly reduced outbreaks when it was introduced. I still remember standing in the long line at school to be given a small white disposable container of sugar water with the vaccine.
As Rob pointed out, nobody worries about smallpox and polio in this country anymore, because vaccines have eliminated them.
Think about the threads on Punaweb when there is an outbreak of Dengue, or Ebola. People are terrified those diseases will enter our neighborhoods and become a permanent threat. We all ask, "why doesn't somebody do something about this?" We're willing to allow almost any method be used against it when we perceive the disease is dangerous, has serious or deadly consequences or could require our daily attention to avoid infection.
Anti-vaxxers are willing to take the risk of not vaccinating their children only because a large majority of intelligent parents vaccinate their own children, which reduces the incidence of those diseases in the general population. If almost everyone is vaccinated the likelihood their own child will contract the disease becomes negligible. That is, until an outbreak occurs in an area with a higher proportion of unvaccinated children. Then their child becomes a carrier, reintroducing the disease into the population. But the carrier's parent most likely still won't take responsibility because, somebody else gave their child the disease, right?
"How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives." -Annie Dillard
"I'm at that stage in life where I stay out of discussions. Even if you say 1+1=5, you're right - have fun." - Keanu Reeves
Posts: 1,059
Threads: 97
Joined: Mar 2009
Good news. It's about time.
Posts: 1,099
Threads: 71
Joined: Jan 2009
Those who would like to blame the non-vaccinated for everything may find this interesting:
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00000359.htm
Vaccination, like abortion and Hawaiian History, is a subject where each side suffers from hardening of the categories and it is very difficult to find out what is actually going on.
Simplistic ideas like "vaccines wiped out polio (and typhoid?
) in the United States" on one side are met with naturalistic fallacies and Orwellian scenarios on the other.
If all vaccines were perfect (in effectiveness and no side effects--an impossibility) it might well be the government's job to enforce compliance. Vaccines vary in effectiveness and side effects and there are no one size fits all arguments--though each side never tires of them. And emotions run high on each side--both blaming the other side for killing and/or maiming people, essentially.
If the government can now compel every citizen to buy something (health care insurance), and it considers a corporation to be no different than an individual (basically selling the elected officials off), mandatory vaccines seem to fall right in line. Some countries have had mandatory vaccination programs (sometimes with unintended results) and the seams of the universe didn't come unseamed.
I'll watch the sides jab at each other with hubris, somewhat uncomfortable that I don't know if I would vaccinate a child today or not. We decided not to 18 years ago and were uncomfortable with the decision then...
I wonder, any parents with grown kids look back with any regrets on their vaccination decisions?
Cheers,
Kirt
typo "is to "are" and "too" to "to"
Posts: 4,905
Threads: 83
Joined: Feb 2009
Another report from the CDC.This one is reporting that young and middle age adults are coming down with severe cases of the flu.
Better get those flu shots !
http://news.yahoo.com/flu-season-cdc-war...html?nhp=1
Posts: 33
Threads: 1
Joined: Feb 2015
True story:
Gave a kid a ride a few months ago - Nice kid, bit smelly but that seems to be the norm. Anyway.
Conversation somehow gets on the topic of vaccines. Kid tells me not to do it. Apparently the government has developed nano bots that they insert into vaccines that can then track you.. Never mind that at best they would only be able to emit a low RFID signal for tracking purposes...
To which I asked: Do you have a cell phone? And then followed up with the logic that hell, if we could make nano bots that tracked people, why would we put it in a vaccine? no one likes getting shots.. PUT IT IN A COOKIE! everyone wants cookies..
Get your shots people. Remember the Measles outbreak in CA last year? I do. It put the kids that can't get vaccines (due to chemo) at serious risk. I'm all for personal choice, but then you shouldn't be allowed to go to public schools or public services/gatherings.
Posts: 11,022
Threads: 750
Joined: Sep 2012
If all vaccines were perfect (in effectiveness and no side effects--an impossibility) it might well be the government's job to enforce compliance.
Almost everything has an up side and a down side, and we as a society or individuals base our decisions on those pros and cons. Sometimes the benefit to society outweighs the negative effects on an individual and vice versa.
Cars: There is a possibility of injury or death when traveling in one, but that's offset by the greater flexibility to live and work where we choose
Schools: Kea'au High School, you might get beat up, you might learn algebra
Downhill skiing: People could break a leg, or hit a tree, but the sport has not been outlawed by the government
Zeppelins: They really had only a single bad accident, but the public would not step foot on one after the Hindenburg's last flight. They've been relegated to aerial shots of football games ever since.
We have to make out best assessment of the risk and benefit of vaccines, and act accordingly. Someone won't like the outcome no matter what is decided. The resolution won't be easy, like whether or not to use Zeppelins. Even football fans who watch a 5 second cutaway shot of Lambeau Field really don't care.
"How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives." -Annie Dillard
"I'm at that stage in life where I stay out of discussions. Even if you say 1+1=5, you're right - have fun." - Keanu Reeves
Posts: 1,440
Threads: 4
Joined: Sep 2014
I'd say a pertinent response, well stated.