Why Not Vaccinate?

Let’s talk anti-vaxxing movement, 

There is a lot of vaccine misinformation that is spread that is important to understand. I have already discussed Andrew Wakefield’s experiment and the effects on the public in an earlier blog post; however, there is a lot of other widespread misinformation that influences the general public. Recently, celebrities have greatly influenced the population due to their bold claims about vaccinations. Their influence in pop culture is great and misinformation spreads quickly on such platforms. I was also a part of the community that did not understand the gravity of getting my yearly flu vaccine. I now know its effects and the harm it can cause to others through doing my own research. I hope I can deliver some information that may clear up your misconceptions on vaccines. 

An article posted in Medical News Today discusses common questions and concerns that people have with vaccinations. Before reading this, I also thought that receiving a vaccine causes you to become slightly sick; however this is a wrong assumption. You are given a dormant or very weakened version of a disease when receiving a vaccination. This causes your body’s antibodies to fight off the small infection, teaching your immune system how to combat the disease. This makes you stronger in the process and does not make you ill. 

Another misconception is that vaccines have too many unsafe toxins. Some vaccines do contain harmful ingredients in high amounts, like aluminum and mercury, but the dose that they are given is not enough to harm you. Humans come into more contact with these toxins in everyday life than they ever do in a vaccine. I mean aluminum is in most drug store deodorant. It is really important to weigh out the good and bad in these situations. I would rather have small amounts of aluminum in me than to die of chicken pox or measles.