Skepticism

Vaccines, Twitter, Vaccines and My Promise

If you follow me on Twitter, you know that today I posted my 10,000th tweet. Since I’ve been using the site for less than 2 years, this was an exciting yet sadly telling milestone for me… actually, it really wasn’t even that exciting. A month ago I had a deal with the people of Twitter that if I were to reach 10,000 followers, I would throw a naked keg party on my front lawn… now that would have been exciting! Anyway… so I decided to make my 10,000th tweet a reminder to get your ass vaccinated. Because it’s important. Because it saves lives. Because they’re not dangerous. Because because because.

36 hours ago (as I write this), I was given a flu shot. Right in the arm. I didn’t feel it go in. I didn’t feel it come out. (That’s what she said!) The life didn’t melt out of my face as the nurse pushed the plunger on the syringe. 36 hours later I still love hugs and I still suck at math… in fact, I suck at math so much that I thought my 9,999th tweet was my 10,000th. Seriously. Rain Man would have never gotten that wrong. I’m clearly not autistic.

Now, before you go correcting me on Rain Man, hugs, math and autism, explaining to me that it’s almost total fallacy, I’d like to point out that vaccines causing autism is total fallacy. See what I did there?

Anyway, my 10,000th tweet was bad math + vaccines. But mostly the importance of getting your kids vaccinated. I’m on a mission to get that through to people. VACCINES SAVE LIVES. So I’m posting the tweet again, here on Skepchick. Because most of you don’t follow me, and even if you do, you may have missed it. Even if you didn’t miss it, I want to remind you of my message.

I’ll warn you now, it’s not safe for work or anyone who is related to me… or anyone who already has trouble looking me in the eye when they talk to me. It is, however, my powerful new campaign to motivate people to get their vaccines. It may not work… but for now, it’s all I’ve got. And seriously, NSFW or my mom.

Tweet 10,000: Get your kids vaccinated. It’s good for them. It’s good for everyone. When you vaccinate, it makes me: 

2948658486_4e635a87a2

Yeah… every time you vaccinate, I rip my shirt off. Topless Skepchick and disease prevention… and all you have to do is do something you should be doing anyway. Everybody wins.

Elyse

Elyse MoFo Anders is the bad ass behind forming the Women Thinking, inc and the superhero who launched the Hug Me! I'm Vaccinated campaign as well as podcaster emeritus, writer, slacktivist extraordinaire, cancer survivor and sometimes runs marathons for charity. You probably think she's awesome so you follow her on twitter.

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31 Comments

  1. I had myself and my son vaccinated against regular flu today, and will do H1N1 when it’s available here. When he’s old enough (he’s 2) I’ll show him how happy we made you!
    BTW, if I looked like you I don’t know if I’d ever have my shirt on!

  2. A friend of mine posted that youtube video on Facebook yesterday, about the cheerleader who developed dystonia after getting a flu shot. So I had to lay the skeptical smack-down, and edumacate them.

    Long story short, I guess now I’ve got to go and put my money where my mouth is. I’m usually too busy to bother, or limited supply means children, elderly, and medical staff take priority, or something like that. I don’t usually get sick anyway. But they’re offering them at work this year. So I guess I’ve run out of excuses. I guess tomorrow I should double-check my e-mail and find out when exactly it is. Make sure I haven’t missed it.

    We’re also supposed to be the first province to get the N1H1 vaccine starting today. A lot of people are bitching and moaning about that. The usual stuff.

  3. I’ve got an appointment Monday, and I expect a shitload of shots.

    My only question regarding the photo is: shaved, trimmed, or natural?

  4. Now I wish I had a vaccine coming up (we’re just coming out of flue season here and it looks like I’ve evaded Swine Flue, Yay!).

  5. My dear, that is a noble sacrifice you’re making in the name of vaccination.

    You have beautiful eyes, btw. Very striking.

  6. I got my Hep A/B vaccination last week and no cute Skepchick ripped her shirt off for me. I am feeling a little bit cheated.

    Maybe I can get two cute topless Skepchicks when I go get my MMR booster and my Hep A booster in a couple of weeks time. :)

  7. See, it’s not fair. I don’t have any incentive to give my friends to vaccinate. :) I just knock down their arguments against it, and if that fails, I promise to kick their ass in the future and laugh at them when they get the flu. From a safe distance.
    BTW, I even made sure I got the seasonal flu vaccine that had thimerosal in it, just be to be a smartass. No H1N1 vaccine in my area yet though. Does having asthma put me closer to the front of the line?

  8. I have so little life, I’ve been using twitter just over a year and am well past 12,000 tweets. I did not rip my shirt off.

    I still need to get my flu shot, I know I shouldn’t put it off and I need to do it soon. My brother might be able to manage some leave time to bring my new baby nephew home. I WILL be vaccinated well before that happens. No way will I put my parents’ only grandchild at risk, they’d kill me if the guilt didn’t.

  9. Really doesn’t (and shouldn’t) work the other way, does it?

    “Hey ladies, you go on out there and get yourselves vaccinated and then you can enjoy a little glimpse of my scrotum. Mmm…vaccinated scrotum. Don’t pretend it’s not an incentive. …Oh, really? It’s not an incentive? I’m now being told it’s not an incentive.”

  10. I got a rubella jab last year. Is it still good? Is there a deadline to redeem my vaccination certificate? I can add a pack of obviously badly needed, ready-to-rip shirts for Elyse if it helps to have my case heard.

  11. Okay, I’ll consider this payment for the seasonal flu vax I got a few weeks ago. I’ll be getting the H1N1 soon, do I get more boobies for that?

    Oh and I need a tetanus booster, too. Anyone going to tempt me with, say, some sexy biceps?

  12. What if I’m directly responsible for encouraging others to get vaccinated? Do I get more shirt-ripping for that?

    @Amanda: Yes! We also could use a skepdude equivalent. We want to be fair and balanced, after all.

  13. I got my flu shot back on September 18, to ensure I got in before the inevitable shortages started. I intend to get the H1N1 if/when it is available somewhere that I can get to it, and I have a physical next month so I expect to catch up on any shorts or boosters I need at that time.
    Also, I gave blood on Tuesday. It’s not a vaccine, but it does involve a needle, so…

    Oh, and I have Mardi Gras beads. That’s what girls like, right? :-)

  14. There’s been no published dates for the seasonal flu shots past the end of the month last I checked, the H1N1 shots are given priority to school children and healthcare staff. And the shots provided through work have been postponed. And with my car in the shop for at least another week, it’ll probably be a while.

  15. I got my H1N1 yesterday – but my doctor’s office only got 100 doses, despite the fact that they have a large AIDS practice and a bunch of people like me with breathing-related conditions that make it imperative that we don’t get flu of any kind. Stupid government!

  16. Ooh! Ooh! Just like the GOOD prizes from cereal boxes! Does that mean we’ll get additional photographs if we send in proof of vaccinations; a self-addressed, stamped e-mail; and $6.99 shipping and handling?

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