Questioning vaccines is becoming more common and is a healthy and normal part of your healthcare plan. You should never put anything into your body without knowing the risks and benefits, including short and long-term side effects and common and less common reactions.
Unfortunately, the medical system today does not properly inform people of the risks of vaccines. They only push the benefits and often make people feel guilty for hesitating, as if they are putting the whole planet in danger by refusing or delaying vaccines.
As a natural health professional, I get asked about vaccines a lot by people who don't feel right about them but don't know how to make the best decisions for their families.
Here's what I tell them.
Consider Vaccines Individually
In the U.S., we have an "approved" vaccine schedule that we are "supposed" to follow to the letter. However, there is a wide range of vaccines on this schedule. It includes everything from airborne to blood-borne, common to all-but-eradicated, and potentially life-threatening to mere inconvenience.
Because of this, it's important to look at each vaccine individually. Some may be easier to dismiss – for example, is your infant really in danger of a disease transmitted through sex and dirty needles?
Others, however, will be more difficult, and that's where these questions can help.
What is the Likelihood of Encountering this Disease?
I touched on this a little above, but there is very little purpose in vaccinated for a disease you won't encounter.
Hepatitis B, for instance, is given to babies on their first day of life. It is a blood-borne disease most often contracted through drug use or sex.
Polio is another disease you are unlikely to be exposed to since it is all but eradicated. The polio outbreaks that do crop up are actually vaccine-strain polio and not the wild polio that haunted our parents and grandparents.
On the other hand, if you have a baby during the winter, RSV may be a valid concern.
What are the Risks of the Disease?
Next, let's consider what would happen if you or your child were to contract the disease in question. What are the typical symptoms, duration, and long-term effects of the disease?
Some examples of diseases that have almost 0 risk are flu, COVID, and chicken pox. These illnesses are almost never fatal, especially for children and healthy adults. Is there any point in vaccinating for a disease that won't significantly alter your life?
Polio or mumps would be examples of diseases that could potentially have long-term, life-altering effects.
How Treatable is the Disease?
Whether the disease is serious or not, it's worth considering how it's treated and how effective that treatment is.
Using flu, COVID, and chicken pox as examples again, these diseases typically require no treatment and just run their course at home.
Hepatitis B is an example of a potentially more serious disease, but in most cases, your body will work through it on its own without any treatment.
Polio and tetanus are examples of illnesses that require more involved treatment.
What Reactions Do People Have to the Shot?
By now, you're probably in one of two camps – you have either decided against some vaccines because you don't feel they are necessary, or you are thinking there's no reason not to get them.
Sure, if there were no risks to vaccines, you should just go ahead and get them all because why not? But that isn't the case. Vaccines have risks, sometimes serious risks, and to make a responsible decision, you need to take them into consideration.
The Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System – commonly known as VAERS – is a good, unbiased resource. It documents actual medical information about reactions people have had after getting shots. It can be a bit overwhelming with so many search parameters, but don't be afraid to play around with it.
There are two important things to know when looking at VAERS:
1 – It records reactions after shots, but these reactions may not all be direct reactions to the shots. Some are inevitably coincidence.
2 – According to a study by Harvard, only 1% of adverse events are reported to VAERS. That means that for every case you read about in VAERS, you can safely assume that there are 99 others.
What Are the Ingredients in the Shots?
If you know me, you know I place high importance on ingredients. What we put in and on our body have drastic effects on our health, and injecting substances into our bodies bypasses almost all of our built-in defenses. Things that may be relatively safe to ingest or apply topically can be dangerous when injected.
For any vaccine you are considering, you should look up a complete list of ingredients. You aren't injecting only an inactivated or modified virus. They also contain preservatives, stabilizers, adjuvants (which amplify your immune response), and trace remains of the cell cultures used. I won't go into science on that last one, but part of producing vaccines involves using cells from animals or humans.
Ingredients like aluminum, formaldehyde, polysorbate 80, and more pose risks to human health.
Making the Best Decision for YOU
From those questions, determine which, if any, vaccines would have an acceptable risk/benefit balance for you or your child.
Also, keep in mind that, contrary to popular belief, vaccines do not prevent infection or spread. They mitigate symptoms only. That may carry a slight benefit of less spread through less sneezing or coughing, but that is negated by a higher likelihood of going out in public not knowing you're sick. Therefore, you do not need to feel guilty about not "doing your part" to protect others. That's up to them to do what they need to do, and your decision does not affect them.
Want to know more about when to talk to a doctor and when to think for yourself? Read "What to Know About Consulting Your Doctor."
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