Local opinion: The record on vaccines and disease is crystal clear

Medical decisions are being made by those without medical backgrounds and knowledge. Like many areas for the general population, conspiracies rule over reason.

Robert F Kennedy Jr., US Secretary of Health and Human Services, among others, believes that pharmaceutical companies benefit from the sale and use of vaccines, despite research showing their benefits. RFK has no medical background. Before vaccinations were developed, diseases killed millions of people. Medical experts and researchers have studied diseases that affected people for centuries.

Here are specific examples of how vaccines have been effective:

Smallpox

In the 100 years before smallpox was completely eradicated in 1980, at least 500 million died from its horrible effects. One in three with smallpox died before a vaccine was developed. Those who survived suffered severe lifelong conditions. You may remember receiving a smallpox vaccination in early grades.

Polio

Another major disease was polio, causing paralysis, lung damage and death. Dr Jonas Salk developed a polio vaccine in 1955. While in grade school, I received a shot, and that was quite important to be done in our country school. While there, I knew of people suffering from polio, with degrees of paralysis and some confined to iron lungs. Polio has been greatly lessened due to vaccination. The number of cases has been reduced by 99% since 1998. Wild Poliovirus (WPV) is the original form and is now found only in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The last wild polio case in the United States was in 1979. It was eliminated from the Western Hemisphere by 1991. The last known case was in Peru.

Measles

Measles is another disease greatly reduced by vaccines. The measles vaccine was developed by Dr. Thomas Weller at the Boston Children’s Hospital. It was licensed for use in the United States in 1963. Before the vaccine was developed, many children contracted measles by age 15. It caused an estimated three to four million cases and 400-500 deaths annually in the United States. The vaccine led to a dramatic decline in measles cases and deaths worldwide. The Americas were declared free of endemic measles in 2016 by independent medical experts. Some people believe that measles vaccinations cause autism. This may have originated when a fraudulent research paper was published in the Lancet magazine, in England, without scientific evidence. Measles cases have recently increased in some areas with low vaccine rates. There is a direct correlation between those rates and measles originating, yet there are those who refuse to vaccinate their children, no matter what evidence is presented. They choose to believe the conspiracy. It seems criminal if a child dies resulting from vaccination refusal.

COVID-19

COVID-19 originated in China and began spreading worldwide in December 2019. High-ranking politicians saw the growth of COVID-19 as a threat to being elected if it was a disease that spread uncontained. It was minimized as a hoax and called the Chinese Flu. During the pandemic, there were over 103 million confirmed cases of COVID, with 1,226,351 deaths. A vaccine was finally developed on Dec. 8, 2020, to combat the disease. After the vaccine development, it is estimated that 14 to 19 million lives were saved in 2021.

Dr. Paul Offit is Director of the Vaccine Education Center and professor of pediatrics at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. His knowledge is invaluable concerning vaccines and disease. He recommends the Covid vaccine be taken, especially by those over 65. He and others were removed as CDC personnel by RFK Jr., replaced by anti-vaccination adherents. Over 1000 present and former CDC members have signed forms asking for Kennedy’s dismissal.

Other major diseases that have been greatly reduced or eliminated by vaccines are:

Rubella — A single dose provides 97% effective at preventing infection.

Hepatitis B — Vaccine generally shows immunity, but requires testing.

Tetanus — A vaccine series provides nearly 100% protection.

Diphtheria — Vaccines provide 97% efficacy, but may require boosters every 10 years.

Pertussis — Vaccines provide 98% protection. Booster shots recommended.

Influenza — It takes about two weeks to develop antibodies to create immunity.

Consider the consequences of disease if vaccines were unavailable, or if the population refused vaccinations for themselves and families. Suffering would be immeasurable.