Perhaps you could point out that one of the complications of many of these diseases IS brain damage – which can lead to permanent mental retardation. That’s what’s so insane about the whole “vaccines cause autism!” bullshit. If anything, kids are more at risk for brain damage from the very diseases these vaccines prevent. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.
I’ll try. Not on FB, though. I’m not about to be drawn into endless battles with all the morons who will come out of the woodwork there.
It will be a tough sell, for sure, since the very-far-right niece is certain that Evil Hillary will mandate vaccines and take away “freedom of choice.”
This item is very interesting to me because the woo woo was mostly rare but evenly distributed among party or ideological groups; suddenly most of the Republican candidates, and the remaining one, came out strong with the woo and it is percolating hard among the rank and file Republicans.
As if there was a need to add another anti-science and stupid issue that the crank Republicans needed to add to their litmus tests.
(Besides anti-evolution, bigotry, climate change denial and others)
You might get her to start thinking about relative risks. Sure there is risk involved. If she lets her kids out the door, there is risk involved. If she drives them somewhere there is risk involved. But there is less risk getting them vaccinated than not. And even more if others follow her lead.
Perhaps get her to read about the effects of some of these diseases, what they do to a person, the complications that arise. Maybe ask her to talk to some older people who lost relatives to them.
Ugh, another outbreak of antivax popped up on another friends facebook feed. I’m seeing a pattern of the same tired old myths and when they’re debunked they retreat to “well that’s just your opinion and mine is just as valid” and then “you’re a violent dictator if you want to force people to get vaccinated against their will”. :smack:
Yes just like we are violent dictators because we eventually use physical force if people fail to pay their taxes (after other avenues are exhausted).
It was very satisfying however to have one of them try to pull the “Does anyone here actually have any education in biology?”. Yep, two qualified biologists who had already been arguing with him stuck their hands up. 
WHO is reserved for humans. Got any evidence that ignorant scumbag anti-vaxxers are human? 
While I do not believe children should be taken from parents, there are simple legal steps that should be taken:
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Parents who choose not to immunize their children should not be allowed to send them to day cares, publically run camps, or schools with other children, be they public or accredited private.
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Any person who chooses not to immunize their child (obviously, without a genuine medical reason) must pay the Immunization Refusal Tax. The IRT is 10% of gross income,OR $3000, whichever is higher, per child. This tax is subject to no deduction of any sort and must be paid annually in full. There are no discounts for large families; parents with six unimmunized children must pay 60% of their gross income as an IRT tax. Like income tax it is a positive duty. Failure to pay the tax is illegal and punishable by imprisonment.
How about demons? Do demons get to be “who” and not “that?”
“Which”.
The Muslim world? You made a typo error for “war zone countries”, or have a very weird idea about what the geography of the islamic world is and think the Afghanistan and the Pakistan are the islamic world.
Faintly Macabre.
If you are not yet 60 years old, the Shingles vaccine will cost you a lot of money (at least with many insurance plans). I’m 58 and I’m waiting to be eligible.
Many, but not all. Check. I got mine before I was sixty. I don’t remember the price, but it was less than $100.
I was under the impression that you couldn’t even get it at all till you turned 60, but I just discovered on WebMD that you can get it after age 50.
We learn new things every day.
This article debunks vax injury anecdotes and also mentions someone who actually thought a flu shot caused her endometriosis. :smack:
That’s like saying that hemorrhoid relief creams give you dandruff.
Now I’m wondering how many anti-vaxxers are also Flat Earthers.
They changed the age* a while back. Went from 60 to 50, but not all insurance companies have changed their coverage yet. So check with your provider to see if they’ll pay for it. (And strongly consider paying for it out of pocket if you’re high risk. Shingles suuuuuuuuuucks.
*See? That’s what scientists do when new evidence is accumulated that indicates a good reason to change their mind about something. That’s why they changed the age on shingles, and pulled the Lyme vaccine off the market. Because they know how to science.
What I don’t get, and haven’t been able to find yet, is how anti-vaxxers would deal with it if their kids contracted a disease like measles, mumps, whooping cough, etc.
Do they think these diseases aren’t a big deal?
They blame them on vaccinated children “shedding” virus, and it’s the other parents’ fault.
Yes they’re that ignorant.
Why don’t we just start printing the names of people who refuse to vaccinate their kids in the paper? Don’t lots of places use that sort of public shaming for DUI and prostitution arrests?