# Who else is getting sick of anti-vaxxers re:H1N1 **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 29, 2009, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-is-getting-sick-of-anti-vaxxers-re-h1n1/515651 "2009-10-29T20:17:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-is-getting-sick-of-anti-vaxxers-re-h1n1/515651/81 "2009-11-03T16:08:29Z")
A buddy of mine found a list of “reasons why I’m not getting the flu shot” on the website of a local homeopathic clinic. One of the reasons was: “I don’t want to be microchipped.” Seriously, who the hell thinks the government is going to microchip them? It’s the nanobots you have to worry about anyway. ---
**Author:** ![lexi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lexi/32/6806_2.png) [@lexi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lexi)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-is-getting-sick-of-anti-vaxxers-re-h1n1/515651/82 "2009-11-03T17:00:07Z")
Does any one have a link debunking this article, I’ve been sent this one twice now. [http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/7395411/deadly\_immunity/](http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/7395411/deadly_immunity/) The RFK Jr.connection has some of them convinced that autism didn’t even exist before vaccines. ---
**Author:** ![dhkendall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9adbd/32.png) [@dhkendall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dhkendall)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-is-getting-sick-of-anti-vaxxers-re-h1n1/515651/83 "2009-11-03T17:13:11Z")
> [@lexi](#): > > It seems for the past couple days, every second post I see on facebook is some idiot I know ranting about how the H1N1 vaccine is SO VERY DANGEROUS! > > The latest was how squalene caused Gulf War Syndrome, and I made the mistake of posting about it. I used a quote from wikipedia (in quotes of course), and the replies went from first attacking using wiki as a source, then after I pointed out that the line was sourced in another article from the WHO, I got this gem from a friend of a friend: > > I really hope the guy was joking, but just in case, I posted this" > > I really shouldn’t have posted, but I am sick of the girl who walks backwards & how thermasol causes autism, and ZOMG!!! The latest comment from the friend of a friend!! > > I guess this flu will help me weed of friends who seriously need some sort of medication for paranoid delusions - but seriously I am sick of this crazy going around! Should I be worried that I was unaware that there was such a big rash of stupidity going around? I’m on Facebook with over 100 friends, not a peep of misinformation (of course, it could be that either they’re keeping it to themselves or they aren’t on my daily news feed) (Actually, being a relatively new Doper, I’m surprised that so many of us seem to have quite a fair number of, how do I say this gently, stupid friends and colleagues. (There have been a few Dopers chiming in with why they aren’t getting the vaccine, but they have very reasonable explanations and don’t seem prone to fear mongering and misinformation at all.) Aren’t us Dopers only supposed to hang out with smart people?) > [@LavenderBlue](#): > > I forget who said it but someone wrote, “you can’t reason someone one out of a position they haven’t reasoned themselves into.” > > That just about sums up the anti-vax movement in a single sentence. That sums up anything that can easily be disproven with facts in a single sentence. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-is-getting-sick-of-anti-vaxxers-re-h1n1/515651/84 "2009-11-03T17:32:53Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > This is why THEY get the shot. Since we’re getting hourly crisis reports on the shortage of vaccines I’m doing my part by letting them get it first. Problem solved. The main reason I’m getting it is because my mom is high-risk. But I’m also _not_ going to be getting it anytime soon, because I’m waiting for all the high-risk people to go ahead of me. Next round for me, probably. ---
**Author:** ![Pocito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f04885/32.png) [@Pocito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pocito)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-is-getting-sick-of-anti-vaxxers-re-h1n1/515651/85 "2009-11-03T17:39:25Z")
I hate to say it, but I’ve lost respect for several members of my family and friends who tried to talk me out of harming my eight-month-old fetus by getting the vaccine. I didn’t solicit their advice in the first place, nor did I try to talk them into vaccinating themselves. But I’ll be damned if I let them near my newborn in a couple of months with un-vaccinated stupidity. It’s tough when you hear people you thought were intelligent spout out such nonsense. The worst was when my schoolteacher aunt forwarded an email about how I should think about not getting the vaccine and used a homeopathic advertisement as her research. (I got my H1N1 shot today, and I feel so relieved I got it before the baby’s born!) ---
**Author:** ![Hirundo82](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/919ad9/32.png) [@Hirundo82](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hirundo82)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-is-getting-sick-of-anti-vaxxers-re-h1n1/515651/86 "2009-11-03T17:52:40Z")
> [@lexi](#): > > Does any one have a link debunking this article, I’ve been sent this one twice now. > > [http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/7395411/deadly\_immunity/](http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/7395411/deadly_immunity/) > > The RFK Jr.connection has some of them convinced that autism didn’t even exist before vaccines. [Here’s one.](http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2006/06/from_the_vaults_rfk_jr_gets_hi.php) [And another.](http://skeptico.blogs.com/skeptico/2005/06/robert_f_kenned.html) ---
**Author:** ![EmAnJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@EmAnJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmAnJ)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-is-getting-sick-of-anti-vaxxers-re-h1n1/515651/87 "2009-11-03T17:52:44Z")
I wasn’t going to get the vaccination, but if it becomes available to me (29, very healthy female, no kids, no high-risk person contact), I’ll get it. I have never gotten the regular flu shot, however. On a side note, I’m in Calgary, and my husband is a fire fighter. He has not received the vaccination yet, and neither have the police. About 10 days ago, an entire hall was booked off sick, yet there still seems to be no huge rush to get them vaccinated. It’s rediculous, really. ---
**Author:** ![lindsaybluth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90db22/32.png) [@lindsaybluth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lindsaybluth)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-is-getting-sick-of-anti-vaxxers-re-h1n1/515651/88 "2009-11-03T18:35:07Z")
> [@NajaNivea](#): > > 😕 > He already told us he had a _serious, life-threatening reaction_ to a vaccine as a child. That’s the point. When I was six years old, I had my ears pierced against my will. It was performed by an expert plastic surgeon - because my mother herself is a physician and wanted the holes to be perfectly centered. I cried for FIVE HOURS afterwards, and at times turned blue from holding my breath out of anxiousness. Decades later, I’ve successfully received all 3 Gardasil shots, a TB test, a Tetanus booster, and yearly bloodwork for my slow thyroid, all without shedding a single tear. My point? Some kids bitch and moan and drag their feet. It doesn’t mean he had a life threatening reaction. He likely took a negative experience and amplified it in his own mind. That is NOT the same as titers. I wish I could get the H1N1, but it looks like I’m fairly low on the totem pole, being young and healthy. I work in a high-traffic library, with tons of interaction with people of all ages. I actually worked at another branch over the summer, and one of my coworkers had it (he had the official test by the health department, since he was one of the first cases in the county) but none of us - or the preschoolers he read to a day earlier - fell sick. ---
**Author:** ![lexi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lexi/32/6806_2.png) [@lexi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lexi)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-is-getting-sick-of-anti-vaxxers-re-h1n1/515651/89 "2009-11-03T18:37:07Z")
I have friends who are smart, I also have friends who are less so, but they are creative, or they are loving. Intelligence & rationality isn’t my only criteria for friendship. On that level, I’ve seen the most positive response on this posting of mine on facebook: > [@](#): > > Just to counter some of the conspiricy theories I’ve seen regarding vaccines - here is a thought experiment from another angle. > > Perhaps this rightwing is the real ones with the agenda. Once they have everyone afraid of vaccines, then they’ll have you denying global warming, and then evolution - by sowing the seeds of mistrust of one aspect of science, they are hoping the door is open and they can bring you into the fold. They want you afraid of science because they want you ignorant so they can control you with religious dogma. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-is-getting-sick-of-anti-vaxxers-re-h1n1/515651/90 "2009-11-03T18:42:22Z")
Has anyone else had the forwarded email saying that the H1N1 vaccination is the Mark of the Beast, or at least a preliminary to it? I got that from some folks I thought had brains. ---
**Author:** ![NajaNivea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@NajaNivea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NajaNivea)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-is-getting-sick-of-anti-vaxxers-re-h1n1/515651/91 "2009-11-03T18:50:00Z")
[QUOTE=lindsaybluth] When I was six years old, I had my ears pierced against my will. It was performed by an expert plastic surgeon - because my mother herself is a physician and wanted the holes to be perfectly centered. I cried for FIVE HOURS afterwards, and at times turned blue from holding my breath out of anxiousness. Decades later, I’ve successfully received all 3 Gardasil shots, a TB test, a Tetanus booster, and yearly bloodwork for my slow thyroid, all without shedding a single tear. My point? Some kids bitch and moan and drag their feet. It doesn’t mean he had a life threatening reaction. He likely took a negative experience and amplified it in his own mind. That is NOT the same as titers. [/QUOTE] Wait… you’re saying your personal history of pitching a hissy fit after having your ears pierced gives you the ability to _magically know that this other poster was lying_ or mentally inflating his own personal medical experience regarding a severe adverse reaction to a vaccine? WTF kind of sense does that make? …then you’re going on to assert that his statement of “proving his immunity” in order to skip unnecessary booster injections as an adult is likely \*not \*related to titer testing? 😕 What evidence do you have to support that contention? ---
**Author:** ![Neeps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a183cd/32.png) [@Neeps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neeps)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-is-getting-sick-of-anti-vaxxers-re-h1n1/515651/92 "2009-11-03T18:51:36Z")
Yay - I’ve just got my letter offering me the vaccination on Saturday. I’m 20 weeks pregnant, and have been dodging fluey people at work all week who have been coughing all over the place. Thing is, the know I’m pregnant _and_ we work in public health co-ordinating the H1N1 vaccinations - they should know better. Still, at least there aren’t any anti-vaxxers in there, just people who should know better about respiratory hygiene. I’ll be first in line and I’ll feel a hell of a lot better about being at work. ---
**Author:** ![lexi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lexi/32/6806_2.png) [@lexi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lexi)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-is-getting-sick-of-anti-vaxxers-re-h1n1/515651/93 "2009-11-03T18:54:32Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > Has anyone else had the forwarded email saying that the H1N1 vaccination is the Mark of the Beast, or at least a preliminary to it? > > I got that from some folks I thought had brains. Just googled that - and of course Obama is the Anti-christ.:dubious: That was good for a laugh! ---
**Author:** ![Minnie\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Minnie\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Minnie_Luna)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-is-getting-sick-of-anti-vaxxers-re-h1n1/515651/94 "2009-11-03T19:02:26Z")
> [@](#): > > Has anyone else had the forwarded email saying that the H1N1 vaccination is the Mark of the Beast, or at least a preliminary to it? These people are fricking nuts. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Onimous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea5d25/32.png) [@Ann\_Onimous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Onimous)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-is-getting-sick-of-anti-vaxxers-re-h1n1/515651/95 "2009-11-03T19:14:39Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I think this is the whole list: the priority groups are health care workers, the elderly, people with immune and respiratory diseases, pregnant women, and kids between 6 months and 24 years old. Our state has left out the people with immune and respiratory diseases. Let one of them come and try to keep my daughter’s blood glucose under control when she has the flu. They might rethink their damn priority list. She had the regular flu last year, and she was the most miserable I’ve ever seen her. Her BG was all over the place: she didn’t feel like eating, and it was everything we could do to keep her BG in a reasonable range and keep nutrition down. Thankfully, our school system will be giving the shots next week, so both her and our son will be getting them then. I’m waiting to make sure they are getting the injections, and not the FluMist, because she cannot take the live virus. The best thing I could do would be to keep my office mate well, Last year, she got the flu and came in to work anyway: she then gave it to me, and I gave it to our daughter. Now, at the slightest hint of my office mate being sick, the Lysol comes out. ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-is-getting-sick-of-anti-vaxxers-re-h1n1/515651/96 "2009-11-03T19:24:21Z")
My 3 year old is sitting here watching [Sid the Science Kid’s](http://www.pbs.org/parents/sid/vaccination.html) show all about vaccines and taking measures like washing your hands, etc. to prevent illness. He’s all excited because he got his H1N1 shot a few weeks ago (he has a history of respiratory problems)…he’s dancing around saying “I’m immune! I’m immune!” (hopefully, this excitement will carry over until he has to get the second shot they’re requiring for kids under 9) I’m sitting here wondering how many anti-vax parents’ heads are exploding. It’s a very well-done show. ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-is-getting-sick-of-anti-vaxxers-re-h1n1/515651/97 "2009-11-03T19:25:55Z")
**lindsaybluth** , do you have some personal issue with **BigT**? Your reaction to his account is very odd. ---
**Author:** ![EmAnJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@EmAnJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmAnJ)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-is-getting-sick-of-anti-vaxxers-re-h1n1/515651/98 "2009-11-03T19:29:30Z")
> [@C3](#): > > **lindsaybluth** , do you have some personal issue with **BigT**? Your reaction to his account is very odd. I thought the same. It’s a little over the top. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-is-getting-sick-of-anti-vaxxers-re-h1n1/515651/99 "2009-11-03T19:40:27Z")
> [@Zeriel](#): > > I mean, I’m not getting a flu vaccine either, and I’m not an anti-vaxer. I’m just in the lowest-risk group as a healthy 30-yr-old male in an area with 0 confirmed swine flu cases. I don’t think you’d qualify as being in the “lowest-risk” group as a healthy 30-year-old. Older people who’ve been exposed to many different strains of influenza are considered at lower risk for catching H1N1 than young people (children and young adults aged 19-24 are considered at high risk). A healthy 55-year-old would have somewhat lower risk fjor getting H1N1 than a 30-year-old. I’m looking forward to getting an H1N1 immunization in addition to the seasonal flu shot I received several weeks ago. It’s not because I fear serious complications or death, but mainly that I’d like to greatly reduce my chances of getting miserably sick for a week or so. Incidentally, being in an area with “0 confirmed swine flu cases” doesn’t mean there haven’t been any, most likely just that serious cases with laboratory confirmation haven’t been reported in your area. Oh, and [here’s the lowdown](http://www.h1n1666.com/) on H1N1 vaccination, the Mark of the Beast, microchipping and other revelatory matters. ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2009, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-is-getting-sick-of-anti-vaxxers-re-h1n1/515651/100 "2009-11-03T19:57:18Z")
> [@Zeriel](#): > > When there are both A) confirmed cases within 100 miles of me and B) enough vaccine that the high-riskers are covered, then I’ll get one. Since the CDC is telling me not to get it yet, I think I can safely take that advice. I can’t argue with this. This is exactly what people should be doing. I don’t know where you live, but I think it is pretty doubtful that there have been no cases in 100 miles. Also, as has been pointed out, you may not be as low risk as you think. Still, it isn’t likely anything to worry about. People should just keep informed and watch for their symptoms to suddenly go off the deep end. Keep your hygiene as good as possible and get the vaccine when its your turn. Also, don’t tie up the phone lines constantly searching for a vaccine. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-is-getting-sick-of-anti-vaxxers-re-h1n1/515651.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-else-is-getting-sick-of-anti-vaxxers-re-h1n1/515651.md?page=6)