Poll: What does the Escapist community think of vaccinations?

[Doclector]

Not only is it blatantly obvious that there's no real link between vaccines and autism or any other such nonsense, but I really have to question the morality of a parent who'd rather their child FUCKING DIE than become autistic.

Honestly, as someone with asperger's syndrome, it's almost insulting.

 

[Eddie the head]

To be honest, I've only ever seen the debate come up in relation to the States. At least, I've never seen it come up in Ireland anyway.

I wish. It happens all over the world. Like the conspiracy theory spreed by Muslim clerics in Nigerian that the polio vaccine is a western plot to sterilize Africans.

 

[V da Mighty Taco]

Look OP, as much as I agree with you that vaccinations are most certainly a good thing, having your poll actively insult and condemn those who do disagree is not only flamebaiting, but shows that you don't really care to actually hear out and have a proper discussion with those who believe otherwise. Polls should be unbiased and welcoming to all opinions, something this poll clearly isn't.

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

Coming from a family with two generations of nurses, my grandmother having to live through the era of childhood diseases killing off many of her first friends, I have a very pro-vaccine stance in the whole debate.

No, big brother doesn't want to inject experimental serums into you to make you more conservative or whatever. Vaccines are an important control on deadly diseases and the fact it is easy to get vaccinated these days is a major triumph of long term thinking medical professionals. I don't live in a Canada any more where I can list my childhood friends who were taken away by measles. This is a good thing.

However, I think it should never be made involuntary. You have the right to control what goes into your body (for better or worse) and if you're not in a position where you are working with the sick, you shouldn't have to be vaccinated. I know that nurses and doctors are required by law to be vaccinated but very rarely does that even come up in the public argument here.

While some people get their ideas that vaccination is bad from badly sourced reports which cause them to fear of it causing autism, I think what it comes down to in the end is inconvenience. We have to go out of our way to get stabbed at by needles, something we hate at the best of times, all on the expectation that it will keep us from feeling much worse later on. It has been several decades since the diseases we vaccinate have been a major public health concern. People forget.

So yes, I get vaccinated. I hate it but I appreciate it.

 

[Username Redacted]

In a sane world there would have been severe criminal repercussions for Jenny McCarthy. Alas such a world does not exist.

 

[Blow_Pop]

While I am pro vaccines, some of the unnecessary crap that they are putting in some of the "newer" vaccines makes me kind of see the anti vaccine side. I think that people SHOULD be vaccinated. However, I think before being given a vaccine, the health professional administering the vaccine should give the person getting said vaccine the *CORRECT* information as to what vaccine they will be getting at least a week prior so that the person can have that week to read the material and if they so wish, to do additional research on the vaccine to make the informed decision to get the vaccine. Especially in the U.S. Then again I wish our medical care was more affordable and just all around better but I don't have high hopes of it ever happening. Also, it would require people reading and we all know how many people are proud of the fact that they don't read anything other than forum posts and youtube comments. -sighs-

 

[Vault101]

is this....a thing?

unless youre an anti-vaxxer everyone thinks their good

theres really nothing more to be said unless you were trying to coax the anti-vaxxers out of the woodwork

 

[Ieyke]

SURPRISE! The Escapist isn't made up of complete morons.

 

[Ieyke]

In a sane world there would have been severe criminal repercussions for Jenny McCarthy. Alas such a world does not exist.

That's the type of thing you'd get launched into the Sun for if it were up to me.
Willful stupidity that endangers humanity is unforgivable.

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

I'm pro-science. If someone wants to have a rational, scientifically-valid discussion of the risk/reward factor of vaccination, I'm more than willing. But when you cling to one utterly-discredited "study" as your "proof", and dismiss everything else as being "bought by Big Pharma", then you may well be too delusional to be trusted with a child's safety, and should face criminal charges if it can be proven that your child transmitted a potentially-deadly virus to another kid.

 

[Compatriot Block]

Look OP, as much as I agree with you that vaccinations are most certainly a good thing, having your poll actively insult and condemn those who do disagree is not only flamebaiting, but shows that you don't really care to actually hear out and have a proper discussion with those who believe otherwise. Polls should be unbiased and welcoming to all opinions, something this poll clearly isn't.

In virtually any other situation, I'd totally agree with you.

Unfortunately in this one, it's not a case of discussion, as there are not two valid opinions. There is the right one, and then there is the side that needs to be educated so they stop literally putting children's lives in danger by not vaccinating them.

I would even agree that the second option could be rephrased in a nicer way, but considering my conversations with my anti-vaccination cousin, I doubt it'd make any difference.

You're right that a real poll should be open to all valid opinions, but since this poll is really a vessel for a joke I think it's okay this time.

Christ, and she has two little kids. I feel sick every time I think about it.

EDIT: Sorry if I sound a little heated. This is one of the few subjects that really get me upset, kinda bleeds over sometimes.

 

[V da Mighty Taco]

In virtually any other situation, I'd totally agree with you.

Unfortunately in this one, it's not a case of discussion, as there are not two valid opinions. There is the right one, and then there is the side that needs to be educated so they stop literally putting children's lives in danger by not vaccinating them.

I would even agree that the second option could be rephrased in a nicer way, but considering my conversations with my anti-vaccination cousin, I doubt it'd make any difference.

You're right that a real poll should be open to all valid opinions, but since this poll is really a vessel for a joke I think it's okay this time.

Christ, and she has two little kids. I feel sick every time I think about it.

EDIT: Sorry if I sound a little heated. This is one of the few subjects that really get me upset, kinda bleeds over sometimes.

There's no reason for this thread to exist then if the point isn't discussion, especially when discussion value is so heavily emphasized here on the Escapist. Making threads for the sole sake of ragging on something (regardless of how much it deserves it) rather than to have a discussion is a good way to have the mods rain hell down upon the OP. It also doesn't help that the OP said he wanted an honest discussion about it when his poll options indicate otherwise.

 

[Vegosiux]

I'm vaccinated against the big ones (polio, tetanus, et al.), but I don't get my annual flu shots. Not because of some anti-vaccine agenda, but because my immune system doesn't seem to need 'em (seriously, I get called "indestructible" even by doctors). I suppose there are good numbers I rolled on the genetic lottery, and "strong health" was one such case.

If I travel to less sterile places, I'm going to get my shots, too.

 

[Colour Scientist]

There's no reason for this thread to exist then if the point isn't discussion, especially when discussion value is so heavily emphasized here on the Escapist. Making threads for the sole sake of ragging on something (regardless of how much it deserves it) rather than to have a discussion is a good way to have the mods rain hell down upon the OP. It also doesn't help that the OP said he wanted an honest discussion about it when his poll options indicate otherwise.

Why you gotta rain on the one thread in Escapist history where people are actually agreeing with each other?

Just let it happen, dude.

I'm vaccinated against the big ones (polio, tetanus, et al.), but I don't get my annual flu shots. Not because of some anti-vaccine agenda, but because my immune system doesn't seem to need 'em (seriously, I get called "indestructible" even by doctors). I suppose there are good numbers I rolled on the genetic lottery, and "strong health" was one such case.

I've only ever heard of pensioners getting annual flu-shots. Pensioners and people who have particularly weak immune systems.

 

[Vault101]

SURPRISE! The Escapist isn't made up of complete morons.

well I'm surprised

[/JOKE THATS A JOKE i LOVE YOU ALL [sub/]in the gayest way possible[/sub]

 

[V da Mighty Taco]

Why you gotta rain on the one thread in Escapist history where people are actually agreeing with each other?

Just let it happen, dude.

Because that does not justify making a discussion-less thread that's designed solely to villainize people that the OP doesn't like, especially when such a thing is against this site's rules. The Escapist is kinda known for cracking down on threads like these.

The whole ordeal with the poll options is also very passive-aggressive, which is particularly annoying to me. If he just wanted to condemn people who are anti-vaccination, why even throw in a poll and ask for an honest discussion in the first place? Why not just make a straight up rant instead? The whole thing reminds me too much of the kind of shenanigans Fox News pulls when they try to have their "fair and balanced" debates, and we all know how those always turn out.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

I don't know honestly. Other than the vaccinations I had to get in the Army (which made me sicker than I'd ever been in my life and gave me my first trip to the hospital for a fever over 103 degrees) and probably the initial child vaccinations (unsure if I ever got them) I don't get vaccinated. I rarely get sick, and if I do its never as bad as anyone else who gets it around me. Most of the time I'm the one person in the house who doesn't get sick. I think my immune system is robust because as a kid I did a lot of playing outside, got really dirty, swam in warm ocean waters near shore (which apparently holds tons of bacteria and other crap), pretty much I was the dirty kid... Got sick, but hardly missed school (except chicken pox).
As far as major diseases like smallpox and polio, yeah it is probably a good idea to go ahead and get vaccinated. Otherwise I've never had a flu shot in my life (knowingly).
Personal experience doesn't matter much, and I don't have all the answers so I don't feel I'm really qualified to speak other than for myself. Not getting vaccinated has worked for me better than the one time I remember getting one.
I don't, however, buy into the whole vaccinations cause autism bullshit. Beyond that I believe its down to personal choice, but I also feel that since we're so enamored of protecting kids from every little thing these days, we may not be giving their immune systems a real chance to fight off diseases and build up immunities for adulthood.

 

[McMullen]

While I am pro vaccines, some of the unnecessary crap that they are putting in some of the "newer" vaccines makes me kind of see the anti vaccine side.

If you're talking about thimerosol (sp?), they stopped putting that in most vaccines more than ten years ago in response to scares about mercury. Such scares were unfounded, because mercury is a part of thimerosol in the same way that chlorine is a part of table salt. Of course, that didn't stop people from trying to scare people away from Splenda by saying that it contains chlorine (it does, but like in table salt, it's a constituent of the molecule, so it doesn't matter).

Anyway, they stopped including it in vaccines. The people who were running the scare campaign expected to see a drop in autism rates. No such drop occurred. Now, if we were dealing with people that had some sense of integrity, they would have publicized that. Instead, they just sort of quieted down about it, and the myth of mercury-related autism from vaccines has been allowed to persist long after it's been proven false. Recently, similar scares have been promoted about things like formaldehyde in vaccines, though the people driving those scares don't point out that your own liver produces formaldehyde as a digestive byproduct.

I've seen a bunch of stories about these vaccine chemical scares, with several different chemicals, and so far none of them has been the product of anything other than pure scientific illiteracy. Please don't spread them. Everything is a chemical, you are made of chemicals, "natural" does not mean "safe" (my mother is currently in the hospital after being poisoned with ammonia that her own body was producing and her liver was failing to remove), and they're not automatically toxic.

And if you think they're adding "unnecessary crap" to vaccines just for kicks, you should try to perform medical research some time just to see how far "For Science!" gets you in non-hollywood medicine or science. Spoiler: you will be dismissed and disgraced at best, imprisoned at worst, and that's assuming assorted legal entities even let you perform the research, which they won't.

 

[MrHide-Patten]

Its not really up to discussion, people that scare monger against vaccines are a bunch of thickies that are going to be the first ones to die off when a big infectious disease does hit eventually. That will be Darwinism at work people, survival of the least brain damaged.

 

[b3nn3tt]

Look OP, as much as I agree with you that vaccinations are most certainly a good thing, having your poll actively insult and condemn those who do disagree is not only flamebaiting, but shows that you don't really care to actually hear out and have a proper discussion with those who believe otherwise. Polls should be unbiased and welcoming to all opinions, something this poll clearly isn't.

Couldn't agree more. There's no point claiming to want a real honest discussion, and then having the poll options so heavily skewed in one direction.

OT: I completely agree with vaccinations, which makes it more annoying that the poll is so skewed. Even if the options were fair, you'd still see an overwhelming majority in favour of vaccinations, because most people are. It is only a vocal minority that opposes them, and that seems to come mostly from ignorance of how they work, and trusting in a highly questionable study. As far as I'm concerned, there is no good argument against vaccinations, and I almost want to claim that they should be mandatory. Unless parents have a very compelling reason, which means that their child physically can't be vaccinated, they shouldn't be able to stop it.

Also,

Not only is it blatantly obvious that there's no real link between vaccines and autism or any other such nonsense, but I really have to question the morality of a parent who'd rather their child FUCKING DIE than become autistic.

this. Again, I fear that it comes down to ignorance of how vaccines work, but it really isn't difficult to understand the basic concept that vaccines prevent diseases, in some cases life-threatening ones. If a parent would rather expose their child to those kinds of risks than risk the minute possibility that they might develop autism and live a long and happy life, then they really need to rethink their priorities as a parent.