Vaccinations: The Truth of a Shot
POSTED February 14, 2023
Vaccinations have been an extremely effective way to reduce the spread of different viruses around the world and help prevent disease. Many people and medical experts believe that vaccines are safe for many, but others don’t believe in the safety of these vaccines. It has been claimed by some that vaccines can cause a bunch of different kinds of disorders, the main one being autism. Others even believe that the government can track you through these vaccines. But how valid are these claims that people are making?
Vaccines: The Basics:
Oxford Languages defines a vaccine as this: “a substance used to stimulate immunity to a particular disease or pathogen, typically prepared from an inactivated or weakened form of the causative agent or its constituents or products.” A simplified definition, the CDC’s definition of a vaccine, is this: “a preparation that is used to stimulate the body’s immune response against diseases.”
Vaccines have been around for a very long time, but the first successful vaccine recorded was in May of 1796. Dr. Edward Jenner noticed that people infected with cowpox appeared to be immune to smallpox. He then infected an 8-year-old boy with cowpox matter as a test to see if this would create immunity. After a few days of feeling unwell, the boy made a full recovery. A few months later, Dr. Jenner exposed the same boy to smallpox matter. The boy remained healthy, becoming the very first human to be deliberately vaccinated against smallpox.
What are vaccines made of?:
Most vaccines are made of these same active ingredients:
Adjuvants: This ingredient is put into most vaccines to help boost the body’s response to the vaccination. This can be found in drinking water and baby formula. It can also be found in antacids and buffered aspirin.
Preservatives: These are put into vaccines to keep them from contamination. It can be found in some fish.
Residual Antibiotics: These are put into vaccines to keep them from contamination during the manufacturing process. This can be found in common antibiotics.
Residual Cell Culture Materials: The purpose of the vaccine is to grow enough of the virus or bacteria in the vaccine. It can be found in eggs.
Residual inactivating ingredients: Its purpose is to kill unwanted viruses and toxins during the manufacturing process. This can be found naturally in the human body. It can also be found in fruit and household furnishing such as carpets, upholstering, etc.
Stabilizers: These are put into vaccines to keep them effective after the manufacturing process. These can be found in Jell-O and naturally in the human body.
An ingredient that (mostly) is omitted:
Mercury: Most vaccines contain no mercury, but there is an exception. Multi-dose flu vaccines and one tetanus vaccine contain a form of mercury: ethylmercury. Ethylmercury is contained in thimerosal. There is not much mercury in these vaccines, though, and it doesn’t cause mercury poisoning. People who are worried about mercury can also get the vaccines made without thimerosal.
Doubts:
The FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) is in charge of making sure that vaccines are safe, but many people still believe that vaccines are harming people. One of the bigger rumors out there is that vaccines can cause children to have autism.
First of all, what is autism? For those who don’t know what it is, Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a developmental disability. ASD can cause social, communication, and behavioral challenges.
Now, the big question is, do vaccines cause autism? The short answer: No, it does not. The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) gives the results from multiple studies that prove that neither the ingredients, including thimerosal, nor the antigens created in the body from vaccines cause ASD. “The study focused on the number of antigens given during the first two years of life. Antigens are substances in vaccines that cause the body’s immune system to produce disease-fighting antibodies. The results showed that the total amount of antigen from vaccines received was the same between children with ASD and those that did not have ASD.”
Another vaccination concern that some people have is about the recent Covid-19 vaccines.
Some people have been speculating that the government is using Covid-19 vaccines to track everyone who receives the vaccine using microchips.
Back in April of 2021, Dr. Matt Hepburn, a Department of Defense infectious disease physician, went onto “60 Minutes” and mentioned a certain government project aimed at ending the Covid-19 pandemic. A California company, Profusa, was using federal grant money to develop sensors that would monitor the health of the person receiving the vaccine if they choose to use it. “The show was careful to make clear that the device is ‘not some dreaded government microchip to track your every move, but a tissue-like gel engineered to continuously test your blood.’ But, still, the segment has become fodder for conspiracy theorists and misinformation profiteers who claim that it’s evidence of government plans to track people with microchips” (https://www.factcheck.org/).
Coming Back Around:
Vaccines aren’t a new idea, nor will they be going away anytime soon. Just because there is a lot of propaganda over the subject of vaccines, doesn’t mean that are not any real risks involved. If the person getting vaccinated has an allergic reaction to the vaccine or if a person gets sick from said vaccine, then it would be best to talk to a doctor or health professional.
Information/Other Places To Look:
There are many kinds of vaccines that work in many different ways. For vaccination concerns, https://www.cdc.gov/ has information on all the different types of vaccines and other medical-related topics.
Credit:
https://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/concerns/autism.html
Featured Image:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/asiandevelopmentbank/50782987987