0
0
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZeMAIf5DmQ&w=420&h=315]
![[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZeMAIf5DmQ&w=420&h=315]](https://divaangelmama.files.wordpress.com/2015/07/vaccinations.jpg){kind=link}
To vaccinate or nah?
That seems to be the question that many parents are facing nowadays. When I was growing up, it was a non-issue. I was vaccinated as a baby. I got the MMR vaccine as a teen and again as an adult. In fact, I received the vaccine just before I became pregnant with Bear.
Bear isn’t caught up with his vaccinations yet but he did receive a few of them already. I hope to have him caught up by the end of the summer. So you can guess where this blog is going…
I’m all for the vaccinations. Yep, sign me and my family up for them.
The hot-button issue in California is Bill SB-277, which requires all parents to have their children vaccinated before they reach school-age. Personally, I hate the fact the bill existed. We can all thank the Disneyland outbreak for that. Anti-vaxxers can argue that measles is no big deal but I imagine what if that outbreak wasn’t measles but let’s say, oh I don’t know….Ebola?
Simmer on that for a moment.
You see when people overreact to illnesses in the U.S. it’s because no one wants to be fucking sick. That’s the truth. You’re in bed all day, you can’t leave your home, you have to make other arrangements, and worst of all, it costs money. That’s right. It is expensive to be sick. You have to spend money on medication, you’re losing money from work or other potential gigs, and you still have to worry about how you’re going to make ends meet once you are better. Oh, and there is that little thing, called death. If you don’t get better, you’re going to die. That’s a given.
I don’t see what the big deal about vaccinations are. Those who had vaccines when they were kids are the ones who are not getting it for their children, which is preposterous to me. People are so quick to forget diseases like polio once existed and how devastating it was. People have died from measles and no one seems to bat an eye. But some people are going to cite autism as a possible defect, not realizing that maybe, just maybe, there has been better research on autism and doctors are able to identify it more.
Anti-vaccination, in my opinion, is very much a First World problem, along the same lines as not having a strong Wi-Fi signal and the barista at Starbucks messed up your Frappuccino order. You think anyone in a third world country gives a damn about your Pandora station not playing your favorite song? Fuck no! I think we have it so good in this country, we really forget exactly how bad (and let’s keep it one hundred here, fucked up) people in other countries have it. Can you imagine coming up with almost a billion dollars to fight the devastation of Ebola? They can.
I think it’s insulting as all shit for anyone to say they would rather have a sick child from measles than an autistic one. Unless you know the pain of having a very ill child or worst, experience the pain of burying one (like I have), there is no comparison. Had Ethan lived and he had autism, I would love him just the same. I will never have that opportunity.
My only solution to all of this is for those who disagree and are vehemently opposed the new law, just leave California. Seriously. The state is overcrowded as it is. Go to another state that supports your anti-vaccine views. If you’re unwilling to vaccinate your child to protect another one who’s immune system is comprised (remember those autistic children? Yeah, some of them can’t be vaccinated due to that reason), you’re risking another human being’s life just because you don’t like the risk that vaccines have. Well, what about the risk of someone else dying due to non-vaccinations? But no, it’s not your child so you don’t care. But we should care that you want your choice not to vaccinate. Your child is protected solely due to the herd immunity. Once the herd immunity is down, the risk for disease climbs up as it already has. Whooping cough and measles are making strong comebacks; two illnesses that were long-thought to be almost eradicated.
See, how that’s a pickle?
I will guarantee you, you read here first on the Diva Angel Mama blog, that the moment a child dies from another child not being vaccinated, the witch hunt against the anti-vaxxers will make the Salem Witch Trials look like a cake walk.
[…] obese children or those who don’t vaccinate (I’ve written my strong opinion about it here). I’m not talking about the ones who are abusive and are otherwise absent from their […]