Vaccinate for All of Us

A new mother suffering from post-partum depression, I watched my husband and two nurses hold down my infant son for two vaccines. The nurses stuck each of his tiny thighs with long needles. I cried as he screamed; my emotions told me what we were doing was wrong.

But my head – the part that has read about vaccines and public health – knew we were right to follow the recommended immunization schedule. There’s a saying that “mother knows best and she should trust her instincts.” In this and many other hard moments in motherhood, my instincts have been proven wrong. Instincts and emotions can lead us far from facts and necessary, hard choices.

I have to rely on the scientific method and results – like our once, not-so-distant eradication of measles in the United States – as I make my decisions. I went to graduate school to study poetry, not medical school to study medicine. I’ve read many articles about health, as well as asked our doctors questions. I trust their knowledge, experience and expertise.

We humans are animals and we need to work to keep our species healthy. Five infants, humans who are too young to receive the vaccine, were diagnosed with measles today at an Illinois daycare. Five infants who can do nothing but rely on adults to care for them and keep them safe. If we had herd immunity, as we recently did, infants and those with medical conditions who cannot be vaccinated, would be safe from the disease.

As Sarah Kliff wrote for Vox the other day, “Vaccination is not a personal decision. It is a social obligation.” As members of a community, we need to care for one another, especially those who are the most vulnerable among us.

This means being vaccinated for ourselves and others in order to stop diseases from spreading.

Right now in the United States, there are loopholes for parents who have “religious and personal exemptions” and can opt out of vaccinating their children. If we close those loopholes, then we will be, once again, safe from diseases we shouldn’t have to worry about killing us.

Hopefully this will happen in California and across our nation. As Kevin Drum writes for Mother Jones, “If this were purely a personal choice, I'd go ahead and let parents decide. But it's not. It's a public health issue, and our top priority should be protecting public health.” 

Read more about vaccine safety from the CDC.