So you've decided to become an antivaxxer
Fame! fortune! and universal adoration await you!
Say you’ve been watching this COVID circus and you start thinking what else has the FDA and CDC been lying about re: the “other” vaccines. The ones tested. Proven. For decades! Safe and effective. Right?
I started going down the vaccine rabbit hole when I was pregnant with our first child and found out that hepatitis B vaccines are regularly given to newborn babies on their first day of life, regardless of the hepatitis B status of the mother. That was my record scratch holy-shit-WHAT moment.
I compared the vaccines that were given when I was a baby to what my baby would receive:
I started questioning why children suddenly “needed” so many new vaccines.
If you’re just starting to question vaccine safety, here are my suggestions:
This episode of The Highwire from 2018 is a great one-hour introduction to the topic of vaccine safety.
Unvaccinated by Forrest Maready is a quick $7 read.
in How to End the Autism Epidemic author JB Handley tackles the lies about vaccines and autism.
Finally Dr. Suzanne Humphries book Dissolving Illusions challenges the notion that vaccines are the single greatest achievement of modern medicine.
I was drafted into the role of antivaxxer after my third child was injured at 3 years old. I know it's meant as a slur but I embrace it and wear it with boldness now.
Those books are all excellent. Also indispensable: Miller's 400 Critical Vaccine Studies. This is helpful for when somebody says, "Well, okay to avoid this vaccine, but MMR is sooo safe."
"Uhh, no it's not. Look at these studies disproving its effectiveness and disproving its safety."
I am a life-long, many generations anti-vaxxer, but did not start having to actively fight for medical freedom until I was a medical student (then in a conventional curriculum). They told me to give vaccines with high school sports physicals. I said No, on the basis of First Do No Harm. It was the cross in front of the vampire. They backed down and couldn't punish me. Then when I transferred to naturopathic med school, it was by no means perfect, but better medicine: Nutrition as first and most important medical intervention.