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Why we vaccinate. Part 5

This afternoon’s Why We Vaccinate is not a video. It’s a great blog post at Life Under A Rock and was sent in to us by reader Rachel V.

If you’re on your way to D*C, you can get vaccinated against whooping cough for free while you’re there. You’ll be protecting yourself, but more importantly, you’ll be a hero for saving the lives of the people around you. Babies’ lives depend on herd immunity to protect them from whooping cough. You probably need a booster. So get one.

It’s FREE. Totally free. And it comes with a free hug.

On to Why We Vax:

Why Anti-Vaccination Proponents Annoy Me

Sep 2nd, 2010 by Talulah

I always joke that knowing my family’s medical history in regards to cancer isn’t going to help me in the slightest, because everyone who had cancer had a different kind.  Seriously.  We’ve had skin cancer, stomach cancer, ovarian cancer, and liver cancer, and I’m sure there’s something else in there, too (my parents have a bad habit of assuming that just because they know something, Iknow it.  This is how I spent 18 years of my life without any clue I was descended from polygamous Mormons).  If I were to go all Grey’s Anatomy and take “preventative measures” by having various organs removed, I’d…yeah.  Pretty sure you can’t live without a liver, stomach, or skin.

In this case, knowledge isn’t power:  it just leads to paranoia.

The first cancer I ever remember hearing about, though, was my Grandpa Bill’s; he died before I was born, of liver cancer, and I always knew that because at the time, he was the only one of my grandparents who wasn’t there.  It wasn’t until I was older and could experience panic about things like CANCER! that my mother gave a more complete version of the ol’ family medical history: [continue reading at Life Under A Rock]

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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4 Comments

  1. Since this seems to be turning into an active pro-vax site, I’d like to ask a question.

    My wife is a dedicated vegetarian. When she does something, she doesn’t do it by halves. We don’t have leather in our shoes, gelatin in our marshmallows — the works. She reads the ingredients of everything at the supermarket, because to her, seeing someone eating chicken or beef produces exactly the same visceral reaction that you’d have if you were watching someone eating a human arm.

    Because of these strong beliefs and the animal products commonly found in vaccines, she’s won’t let our kids to get vaccinated. (The anti-vaxers have nothing to do with it.) I don’t want to get into a debate about the risk to our kids or to others vs. the animals’ welfare — her commitment to this is absolute, and it’s not a fight I’m willing to pick.

    Instead, I’d like to know if anyone knows of any site where I can find which vaccines are made without animal parts. Eggs are ok. Gelatin isn’t.

    I’ve found anti-vax sites that list all the vaccines that DO have animal products — I want to figure out which ones DON’T, so we could ask for them by name. Can anyone help?

  2. @BruceGee1962: The problem with being vegetarian is the gelatin is in freakin’ everything. Yogurt, candy, medicines – it’s so frustrating. I, too, am vegetarian and try my best to stay dead-critter free, but it is not possible for me to completely avoid it. My birth control pills have gelatin in them. My anti-depressants have gelatin in them. I do not want to be my crazy mother, so I take my meds. I don’t want to cause preventable disease (or die from it), so I get my vaccines.

    While I definitely want to see an alternative to gelatin used more frequently, it is not worth it to me to risk my health or the health of my family.

  3. I received my free vaccine at D*C and feel totally cheated!! I received no hug!!! Sure, I am now protected from whooping cough and am protecting little ones by contributing to herd immunity but that was just going to be a bonus. The whole reason for getting the vaccine was the hug right?

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