Then you haven’t been paying attention.
Look up the effects of polio and other diseases we vaccinate against. Then realize they’re people who want those diseases to be current events instead of history, and it should be obvious why people don’t like them.
Don’t call them ‘anti-vaxxers’, call them polio enthusiasts, and it’s much easier to figure out.
Is the position is “Is baby-murder ok?” then, well…yeah. being an anti-vaxxer is a valid position to support baby-murder*. But for anything else? No.
*Note: Baby-murder is NOT ok. Just so we’re clear on this subtle detail.
No…anti-vaxxers are far, far, far lower forms of life than climate change skeptics. Anti-vaxxers are just slightly above people who advocate for toddler-torture and rape, but a bit below people who enjoy skinning puppies and kittens alive.
Lessee: you met one person who’s in favor of giving babies polio, measles, etc, but OTHER than that, he seemed…nice. Are you conflicted about Hitler? He apparently loved doggies.
Except for the ones who are worse than the conspiracy-theorist cranks- the ones who don’t deny vaccines are effective but are opposed to vaccinating their own children. They figure they can let all the other kids take the tiny risk of vaccine side effects while theirs get a free ride on herd immunity. They are the ones who suddenly decide to vaccinate their kids against measles when a big outbreak makes it obvious that there are so many people *just like them *that they can’t rely on herd immunity.
Vaccines help prevent diseases that are contagious and cause real harm. Herd immunity depends on a certain percentage of people getting vaccinated. Children who get these diseases suffer from the scientific illiteracy of their parents.
I don’t believe in a totalitarian state where you are deprived of choice, but if you have seen these illnesses you realize it is beneficial to try and prevent many of them. There may be good reasons for avoiding specific vaccines in some people at some times but this doesn’t seem to be what they argue (vs. all vaccines are harmful).
Oh! The Sublimity!
Yeah, I haven’t really looked into the topic.
I have all the vaccines that I got when I was really young (polio, measles, etc). But my parents had me opt out for some of the later ones given to teenagers after being convinced by an anti-vax doctor. The main reason they’re against it is “the chemicals” and heavy metals like aluminum or mercury being in them.
Do your own research about whether or not those substances are even in vaccines, and if so whether there’s any evidence that they’re harmful. And research how many people in all of history have been harmed by those substances and compare it to how many have suffered and died from the diseases that are controlled by vaccines.
And love your parents but don’t give them any credit for having sensible opinions about this subject.
Because, even more than anti-health, anti-vaxxers are anti-science. Anti-common sense. Reality deniers. They live in a post-facts world.
If by “antivaxer” the OP means “people with strident anti-vaccine views who disdain evidence in favor of nonsensical conspiracy theories”, then yes, they are eminently worthy of dislike.
It’s not unusual for antivax physicians to promote useless and/or dangerous woo in their practices. For instance, Jay Gordon (best known as pediatrician for Jenny McCarthy and Mayim Bialek’s children) espouses homeopathy. In other news, Bob “a hug a day keeps the flu away” Sears was recently accused of gross negligence by the California Medical Board.
I’d keep my kids well away from such pediatricians, if only for the reason that they’re far more likely to catch dangerous infectious diseases from the unvaccinated children in the waiting room.
Because Andrew Wakefield was a total asshole who falsified his information and got people to believe it.
The doctor’s equivalent of Paul Cameron’s anti-gay stance.
An important note about this, Wakefield falsified his info because he was marketing his own vaccine.
My planned reply was “I hate anti-vaxxers for the same reason I hate drunk drivers,” but you beat me to it.
They should learn the key maxim of toxicology: the dose makes the poison. Yes, some vaccines contain heavy metals and chemicals known for being toxic. They’re in such tiny doses that they cannot cause harm, and extensive safety testing has born out that vaccines are overwhelmingly safe and harmless.
Antivaxxers really have no idea what they’re talking about. For example: no vaccine had “mercury”, any more than that glass of water you’re holding “contains hydrogen”. Thimerosal is a mecury compound which does not bioaccumulate and is non-toxic at low doses (such as those previously found in vaccines, before it was removed over the inane, baseless fears of the antivaxxers). It is not the same thing as elemental mercury, and it doesn’t degrade into methylmercury, which is the main thing to watch out for with mercury.
Do yourself a favor and do some research. Vaccines are overwhelmingly safe and effective.
They’re far worse than climate skeptics, by the way.
Be careful you don’t stumble onto anti-vaccine “research.”
Look, find a doctor you trust and ask. By that, I mean not a nitwit who graduated medical school and is anti-vax. I won’t dignify that person with the title of “doctor.”
Really if they’re worrying about the stable mercury previously found in vaccines, they should be more worried about the mercury in their water.
Oh, for example, in California, Anti-Vax central…
*Today, coal-fired power plants in developing nations are the largest source of mercury emissions in California and the world, researchers have found. When released into the air, mercury travels great distances, contaminating oceans, lakes and rivers.
Seafood has long been known to be the largest single dietary source of mercury. Mercury levels in yellowfin tuna caught in the Pacific Ocean have been rising at a 3.8% annual rate since 1998, according to a 2015 study published in the journal Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry.*
Your parents are wrong about this, and you should take control of your own health by speaking with your doctor. Which vaccines did you not receive?
I’m tired of idiots having their idiot unsubstantiated, unsupported opinions treated as a valid position worthy of debate.