Whether or not to Vaccinate

In 1796 the first ever vaccine (for Smallpox) was produced. Now, there are over 28 vaccines available for various diseases. A vaccine is "any preparation used as a preventive inoculation to confer immunity against a specific disease, usually employing an innocuous form of the disease agent, as killed or weakened bacteria or viruses, to stimulate antibody production".

Vaccines help us to save lives by preventing the spread of disease. In fact, vaccines allowed for smallpox to be completely eradicated by 1977 with no further known cases. However, many people still choose not to vaccinate their children and get immunizations themselves.

One of the major reasons people choose not to vaccinate is that they feel vaccines are unsafe. There are chemicals and toxins in them that may do more harm than good. The pharmaceutical companies producing and selling these vaccines may decide not to disclose this information. Essentially, a vaccine is a dead or manipulated version of the virus that one is trying to protect against. What happens if a mistake is made and the wrong strain of virus gets into the vaccine?

With vaccines come risks. The vaccine for Hepatitis B can actually cause multiple sclerosis. Some people also believe that vaccines cause autism (see video below). As well, we often see vaccines first appear with outbreaks of a certain disease. Therefore, usually no long-term studies are done to show the effects of vaccines. Many vaccines contain heavy metals, cancer-causing agents, mercury, and genetically-modified viruses - none of which can be good for our bodies. However, for those of us who do vaccinate we feel the benefits of vaccines outweigh these risks.

Therefore, as we can see, there are indeed pros and cons to vaccinations. Whether or not you choose to vaccinate it is important to educate yourself about vaccinations in order to make an informed decision.

Video: Warning! Vaccines cause autism in children.