Vermont: GET YOUR SHOTS.

(This one’s been so hot in the sidebar that I thought I’d give it a whirl on the front page so that more people might join the conversation.  It’s been pretty civil, so let’s keep it that way! – promoted by Sue Prent)

VT Sen Mullin is reviving the effort to rid our commonwealth of the philosophical exemption to vaccinations.  I'm hopeful we can beat back the lobbying of misinformed, selfish people who were effective at scuttling the statutory change back in 2012.  I've already contacted our 3 legislators.

Sadly, according to the VPR report our school is below 90% compliance WRT to the MMR vax.  That's not necessarily inconsistent with general information I got recently from our principal, but I've written to him, the schoolboard chair, and the district superintendent for clarification on our immunization rates and how the administration might be addressing this issue.

Anywayz, please contact your delegation in Mount Peculiar:

Let's make sure rationality and social responsibility prevail this time.

ntodd

Update from the school nurse via our Johnny-on-the-spot principal:

I do not know where the information for this article was pulled from.  It is not current.  It may be the numbers from the Dec 2012 report.  The most recently publicly reported numbers are on the Dept of Health website http://www.healthvermont.gov/hc/imm/immsurv.aspx   Click on the 2013-2014 aggregate rates by school.  This is the information that was given to the Health Dept by us in December of 2013.  It has our MMR rate at 99.2%.  The most recent report that was done in December of 2014 has not yet been publicly reported by the Health Dept, but our MMR rate is similar to the 99.2%.  I don't have the exact number here, but I can give it to you on Thursday when I am back in the office.  I can understand this parent's concern; the number reported for us was not good, but also not correct.

Thanks also to the superintendent, who also got back to us quickly and will be informing VPR of their inaccuracy.

Adding: VPR fixed their story, noting they used outdated information.  FES is no longer on The List of Shame. 

42 thoughts on “Vermont: GET YOUR SHOTS.

  1. Hatin’ on antivaxers much? What’s next on the agenda — forcing adults to get the ineffective worthless flu vaccine & banning our admission to public events? Fired from job? Health care workers have already been forced into this fraud.

    Do whatever you pls but don’t force others into collectivist hell m’kay. Some of us think for ourselves & are unwilling to take this risk or force it upon our trusting children. I got every childhood disease known to the free world & am alive to tell of my harrowing ordeal.

    And I see our children are dropping like flies due to these criminals.

    And I just got a tetanus shot after deeply wounding myself in a kitchen accident. I do not get it routinely b/c if one is injured they sometimes recommend another one “as a precaution”. If I have an injury w/metal I get one if it’s been 10 years or check to see if the previous one is active.

    If this was safe they wouldn’t be indemnified. Ppl die from vaccines all the time and the vaccine court has a backlog so long parents may not live long enough to get their ‘secret settlement’.

    I’m aware that vaccine true believers just love to shout down anyone who dares stand up to them however I would suggest you do a bit more digging. Although I think authoritarians who demand others respond on command are selfish & misinformed but so what namecalling never changes a thing. do whBut it’s kinda like the rest of these hot-button issues such as guns etc (miss you kestrel keep up the great work!) Vitamins & supplements is another high crime to which I plead guilty as charged.

    The SCIENCE rubberstamp is a mightily misused weapon in the arsenal of anyone who wants to make a case about anything.

    Immune system is the most valuable component of health. It is believed vaccines damage immune system and can act as a neurogenerative. When I met my husband he faithfully receieved a flue shot each year & faithfully got the flu, Following the last time when he was extremely ill I suggested he not get the shot – was not an antivaxer at this point. Its been 10-15 flu-free years & he’s in his 70s. No flu vaccine and we never get sick. Period. And I have copd as well as asthma & have had pneumonia countless times.

    No need to continually bash one another b/c they don’t think like us or agree with our pov. Live and let live. We’re only here a little while.    

  2. I don’t think Todd’s hating on anti-vaxxers so much as pointing out that with compliance numbers like 90% or below, his kids aren’t safe. Todd’s not bashing anybody, but folks who choose not to vaccinate don’t have the right to put Todd’s vaccinated kids or mine at greater risk.

  3. Numbers plz. Also asking someone to put their child at risk of death so anothers child won’t become ill which is selfish is it not? A nonissue afaic as if your children are vaccinated they won’t get sick…unless of course the vaccine is inneffective. And this is what the vaccine compainies & health depts are worried about. That it will be discovered that the vaccine efficacy rate is so low that it is worthless & ppl will stop getting vaccines and manufacturers bottom line will suffer.

    All of my children were vaccinated as I was not an antivaxer then. But still contracted the illness. Soo, placed at risk but still got sick. The marvels of modern medicine!

    A year or two ago I even think I had whooping cough during that scare but…also had the whooping cough vaccine. And the solution to the outbreak & scare even though these kids had been vaccinated? Get another one! Oh, and adults should also get one too as they’re spreading it!

    The playing of both ends against the middle these coporate creeps do then pitting one against another and causing evil surmisings is what they do best. Not taking the bait is the best cure against hate.  

  4. J’ever notice how many of the most “skeptical” antivaxers seemingly have no problem with skepticism regarding bullshit “remedies” such as homeopathy, energy healing and other quackery?

    Compartmentalize, much?

  5. Philosophical exemption for my car inspection? Building permits and inspector visits? Running my studded tires year round? Water quality testing? Drivers testing? Drug testing for the workplace (especially when using heavy equipment!) – and I don’t think the ‘science’ is solid on drunk driving yet either.

    /s tag added for emphasis

    Seriously.  

  6. It’s a thing. You can have someone in the BTV area perform ‘distance’ reiki on you or a loved one (or animal or pet!). You can even sign up for regular sessions. I’ve heard that some folks like the ‘you aren’t supposed to know when it’s happening (don’t want a placebo effect I guess)’ type, while others can schedule it and you can relax and get cozy during your treatment. Either way you will notice the charges on your credit card bill.  

  7. Herd Immunity, a Flawed Concept

    Although the evidence for vaccination-based herd immunity is yet to materialize, there is plenty of evidence to the contrary.  Just a single publication by Poland & Jacobson (1994) reports on 18 different measles outbreaks throughout North America, occurring in school populations with very-high vaccination coverage for measles (71% to 99.8%).  In these outbreaks, vaccinated children constituted 30% to 100% of measles cases.  Many more similar outbreaks, occurring after 1994, can be found by searching epidemiologic literature.

    http://real-agenda.com/2014/04

  8. hopefully vaccine makers will follow – not holding breath truth too damning. Some of the examples of how the truth is swept under the rug and reviews are ‘manufactured’ are applicable to vaccine industry as well.

    Breaking the Seal on Drug Research

    By KATIE THOMAS

    Published: June 29, 2013

    At the time, Dr. Doshi knew little about clinical trials or even much about the drug industry. But he knew Dr. Jefferson. Dr. Doshi, after receiving undergraduate and master’s degrees in anthropology and East Asian studies from Brown and Harvard, had shifted focus and was pursuing a doctorate at M.I.T., studying the intersection of medicine and politics. He met Dr. Jefferson, a prominent skeptic of the flu vaccine, after researching whether the Centers for Disease Control was exaggerating the deadliness of the disease.

    Reviews by the Cochrane group are known for being among the most thoroughly researched medical analyses available. But in trying to answer the pediatrician’s question, Dr. Jefferson realized that there was a flaw: they relied too heavily on the assumption that the articles published in journals accurately represented the results of all clinical trials that had been conducted.

    Dr. Doshi said that medicine “relies on hierarchies of trust.” He added: “A patient is not going to be in a position to review the entire evidence base themselves. But they trust that there is a watchdog out there.”

    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/30/business/breaking-the-seal-on-drug-research.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&#h%5B%5D

  9. VaccineGate: 30 years of Secret Meetings, Conflict of Interests, Dubious Science

    … The question is why would health authorities lend themselves to this kind of corrupt schemes? The answer is simple: Many members of government health agencies had, and continue to have deep ties to the pharmaceutical corporations. We know this because that is what documents obtained through FOIA requests show. Health officials and pharmaceutical companies’ representatives met in what is described as “commercial in confidence meetings” which were supposed to be kept secret. These meetings served as fora to decide what information would be published and what would be kept from the public regarding vaccine safety. The names of many participants in those meetings were also removed from JCVI’s website

    http://real-agenda.com/2012/11

  10. Who needs them?

    http://robertmoorejr.tumblr.co

    And you know what? I also found that decades ago brakes weren’t even used! People would control their vehicle’s speed with downshifting and engine braking. Maybe it’s just coincidence, but back when engine braking was used there were almost no automotive fatalities. There were NEVER brake caused car accidents.

    After doing some more digging, I found a nefarious plot – Mechanics: The very people who we trust to work on and care for our cars – get PAID to install and change brakes! You might THINK they care about our safety, or our cars – but they’re just in it for the $49.99 brake pad installations.

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