Vaccine Evangelists

I had some lady the other day nag me about getting the flu vaccine in a CVS. Told her I didn't have health insurance. She said that it wasn't that much even without health insurance. I told her that I didn't think I needed one. She started to nag me about how of course I needed one and how it was irresponsible not to get one and wonk wonk wonk.

Frankly, I've never had the flu shot, and I've never had the flu. I told her that I believe in letting my immune system do its job. She started nagging me about how its people like me who cause all those little babies who don't have a good immune system and can't get the vaccine to get sick and die.

My frank answer was to tell her that that's the logic people use when employing antibiotics against every little thing, and now we've got superbugs left and right. You unnaturally speed up the evolution, and the ones that survive are even more icky and dangerous. On top of that, you make sure that these more dangerous strands have less competition to deal with by killing off their reproductive rivals.

I asked her: How is mass vaccination against every little thing not equally stupid? Does it not do the exact same thing?

She didn't have much of a comeback for that.

Frankly, I'm sick of all the vaccine evangelists trying to appeal to some emotional crap about how me not getting some random vaccine is going to lead to me indirectly murdering some hypothetical baby.

These are the same people who use the argument that maybe we shouldn't get vaccinated against things like polio or diphtheria either, as if they are even close to the same thing. The flu has extremely low mortality rates in the 1st world country that I'm in, whereas polio and diphtheria have very high ones even with the best of care.

...Sounds again like the opinions of the uneducated.
This happens far too often. Here, North of you guys with your CVS's we don't use live flu in our vaccines (not sure if you do) but I think its important to remember that its each person's right to decide whether they want to or not. My employers made us sign waiver's when the whole Swine Flu panic happened.
Keep in mind, old women like that, getting the shot actually help us who are not at risk and choose not to get the shot through 'herd immunity' en.wikipedia.org... After all, if nobody around us gets the Flu, how are we supposed to get it.

reply to post by deadrooster


I can agree to that. If you want to get a vaccine for it, by all means, get one. If that's somebody's choice, then I'm not going to stand in their way. I don't agree with them, but if it makes them feel safer, then I won't impede them.

There's nothing I hate more than a pushy busy-body. You did well to shut her down with the power of logic.

I would have advised her that, if they develop a vaccine for big-mouthed stupidity, she should be the first in line.

I had the same thing happen to me a few times,
People telling me i was irresponsible for not getting the swine flu shot (or the regular one come to think of it)..

But i've had the flu maybe 3 times in my life (if that), And i'm 23.
Last time i had a flu shot wasss..i dont remember, before i was 10 years old i suppose.

I never did get swine flu
Didn't even get the regular flu.

Just tell them how it is and move on with your life, no sense arguing with someone who is uninformed about vaccinations. or at least doesn't question them one bit.

"Government knows best" - Most people who argue for vaccinations.

reply to post by AnIntellectualRedneck

I agree completely with you and hope you keep it up and stay away from vaccines.
Most of the so called pro vaccine people including doctors have never ever spent a minute on actually researching it themselves. They read the articles in news and blindly trust them. I sadly see loads of people here on ATS do the same, even though they believe in corruption and conspiracies in all other kinds areas including medicine/pharma industry but as soon as someone mention vaccines they go nuts.

I have also never taken flu vaccine and have never EVER had flu which was same case with my grandfather as well and he never had flu either and rarely ever was sick.
My grandmother was disease free as well until she stupidly gave in to the pressure from her doctor and ever since then suffered flu as well as lung infections.

What most people dont understand is how the studies are funded and rules set by pharma industry themselves. The same exact company that earns money on the vaccine being accepted for use. With gardasil vaccine they even went as far as injecting the control group/placebo group with adjuvants including mercury and squalene.
The people that got sick afterwards was brushed off as something unrelated, even though the same side effects was seen when the vaccine was put into use that completely destroyed the life of many teens.

People need to think for themselves instead of blindly trusting mainstream media, politicians and even doctors.

Originally posted by deadrooster
...Sounds again like the opinions of the uneducated.
This happens far too often. Here, North of you guys with your CVS's we don't use live flu in our vaccines (not sure if you do) but I think its important to remember that its each person's right to decide whether they want to or not. My employers made us sign waiver's when the whole Swine Flu panic happened.
Keep in mind, old women like that, getting the shot actually help us who are not at risk and choose not to get the shot through 'herd immunity' en.wikipedia.org... After all, if nobody around us gets the Flu, how are we supposed to get it.

This is the opinion of a educated. YOU are the one who need to educate yourself.

reply to post by juleol


To be honest, I'm a recent convert. After seeing the fact that my nephew's paternal side has a long line of people being sensitive to the tetanus vaccine (to the point where his father almost died from a booster shot at 17), witnessing my infant nephew get a fever, have his leg swell up to twice normal size, and have trouble breathing, and have the doctors simply shrug all of this off, it opened my eyes. My sister is scared to death to give him the next round of DPT shots, and I fully support her.

Originally posted by AnIntellectualRedneck
reply to post by juleol

 

To be honest, I'm a recent convert. After seeing the fact that my nephew's paternal side has a long line of people being sensitive to the tetanus vaccine (to the point where his father almost died from a booster shot at 17), witnessing my infant nephew get a fever, have his leg swell up to twice normal size, and have trouble breathing, and have the doctors simply shrug all of this off, it opened my eyes. My sister is scared to death to give him the next round of DPT shots, and I fully support her.

Even though i am happy you woke up, i am very sorry to hear about what happened.
I really wonder how many such cases we never hear about due to them shrugging it off like that.
I bet such stories are just the tip of the iceberg.

ATS won't let me post a link, but I just read about a baby that died after receiving 9 vaccinations in one day.


Heartbreaking, and could have so easily been prevented.


found a different link, hope this one works.

sanevax.org...

I must be living in just the right area.
Doctors haven't even been pushing it. Not even mentioning it.
And it's free here. They end up throwing away vaccines here too, from lack of people using them.

A couple of years ago, with all the hype, all I ever heard from doctors up here was, get your exercise, take your Vitamin D. And they had extra sanitizer laying around for people.

The really old people go in for it, but no one has even mentioned it to me.

Maybe because I live in an area with a lot of tough, stubborn old farmers

reply to post by snowspirit


Ah. I'm going to hazard a guess you're not from the U.S. then? I live in the U.S., and holy cow do you hear about it constantly from doctors.

reply to post by AnIntellectualRedneck


North end of Canada's grain belt

I lived in the Okanagan Valley (lower BC) a few years ago, and they were giving the flu shot at work. I didn't get it, but I did get the flu. That was 11 years ago, and it was the worst flu I've ever had. It lasted 6 weeks.

When I got back to work, I found out that the foreman was talked into taking the vaccine by the nurse there, he did NOT want it, but he gave in. He was extremely sick, off work for 3 months, and another 3 months after he came back he looked like hell.
He swore no one would ever talk him into a vaccine again. He had never been sick in his life before that, and it hit him really hard.

Me, I haven't been sick since, even a cold goes away in 3 days now

I don't think we give our school kids anywhere near the number that I hear down there, I've heard numbers in their 30s. I hope I heard wrong.
I think anything beyond the MMR ( mumps, measles, rubella ) and smallpox for elementary aged children - is optional, and I think we still get the smallpox vaccine in a sugarcube.

reply to post by snowspirit

It is more like 50 vaccines they give to kids in USA.
They now want to extend this and have vaccines for literally anything giving people up to 100 vaccines by the time they are adult. It is really insane compared to even here in Europe.

I respond to people like you've described by informing them that I am a biochemist and have done extensive work for most major vaccine manufacturers which reinforces my resolve to not take one. Then the conversation dynamic changes rapidly.

Ask them if they bothered to read the insert associated with the vaccine that lists the contraindications.