Making the case for vaccination

Some people refute the facts, putting others at risk

I understand that many people do not enjoy getting needles. It is not my favourite thing either, but for the sake of my health, I tolerate it. What I do not get is this whole vaccine hesitancy movement, also known as antivaccination, or anti-vax.

According to Wikipedia, this movement involves a reluctance or refusal to be vaccinated or to have one’s children vaccinated against contagious diseases. It goes on to say that according to the World Health Organization (WHO) this movement is identified as one of the top 10 global health threats. It seems to me it is hard to argue against the WHO, but apparently, people do.

It also seems anti-vaxxers do not like being referred to by this term, preferring to be called “vaccine-risk aware” instead. This is kind of amusing. Vaccines are developed to keep us well, and serious side effects from vaccines are rare. When a virus enters our bodies, our immune systems kick in to fight off the invading virus generating antibodies to surround, isolate and destroy the virus. In many cases, these antibodies will call in other immune cells to assist. Our immune system has a memory, so that if a similar virus enters our bodies in the future, out system can react more quickly to fight it off.

When a virulent virus, like the measles virus, enters our body for the first time it can take days for our immune system to recognize it and develop a plan of attack; in the meantime, the virus takes over. Not only is the measles virus serious in itself, but it also has the power to completely overwhelm our immune system.

One of the things vaccines do for us is introduce a virus pathogen in a dead or weakened state to our bodies, allowing out immune systems to develop defences against these pathogens without us getting sick. That way, when the virus is later encountered, the body already has a plan of attack to either ward off the virus or to mitigate its effects. This is a very good thing.

When you hear the word vaccine, probably the first thing that comes to mind is the flu shot, which is given annually. Health experts try to anticipate ahead of flu season which strains of the flu are likely to emerge, and vaccines are produced ahead of time. Sometimes their predictions are off and the flu shot we get does not target the emergent strain for that season well. However, in all cases the shot will still give you some protection; even a little protection is better than none. Other times, their predictions are bang on, and those who have been inoculated sail through with little trouble in most cases. Often, the vaccine will make it harder to catch the virus, but in the event you do, effects of the virus are decreased. I know. I line up every year to get the flu shot. Coincidence or not, I have not had the flu since 1992, and I was very sick with it that time.

Anti-vaxxers seize upon those very small percentages of the cases when the vaccine can create harm as the reason for refusing vaccinations; I argue that the risk of having a bad reaction to a vaccine is much smaller than the risk of catching a virus if you do not get vaccinated.

Now it would be one thing if the anti-vaxxers were only putting themselves at risk of serious illness, but their actions – or lack thereof – put all of us at risk. The first step in avoiding illness is to keep your distance from infectious persons. An anti-vaxxer is much more likely to spread infectious diseases than those who have received appropriate vaccinations. Imagine an antivaxxer in your workplace, or the child of an anit-vaxxer in a classroom with your vaccinated children. How does that make you feel?

Let me repeat, if you’re an anti-vaxxer, then you are classified by the WHO as one of the top-10 global health risks.

It might be worthwhile to rethink your position on vaccinations.