The Thinking ‘Kat: Are Vaccines Safe?
Of late, I have been embroiled in a small debate with one Baldmichael, also known as Alphaandomega21, over at Insanity Bytes. Michael (or Baldmichael, if he prefers) is decidedly anti-vaccine, something he makes abundantly clear in his comments, and via his own site, based upon a brief glance.
Michael believes vaccines do more harm than good, and that the control of disease has more to do with cleanliness and hygiene. The question is, do vaccines really cause harm? Or is this conspiratorial nonsense?
The Effectiveness of Vaccines
There is a wealth of data from various sources that speaks to the success of vaccinations. The NHS references to this, and also warns of the dangers of vaccines being overlooked or rejected. To quote from the link:
Measles and mumps are starting to appear again in England, even though the MMR vaccine is the best protection against both diseases.
This is serious as measles can lead to life-threatening complications like meningitis, and mumps can cause hearing loss.
If 95% of children receive the MMR vaccine, this would stop measles spreading completely.
However, measles, mumps and rubella can quickly spread again if fewer than 90% of people are vaccinated.
Everyone should be up to date with their routine vaccinations to give them the best protection.
The Unicef website lists the various illnesses that vaccines have helped resist. The WHO website estimates that over 150 million lives have been saved over the past 50 years, highlighting the success of vaccination efforts around the world.
What of the dangers of vaccines?
Nothing is ever risk-free, and vaccines are no exception. People can have unfortunate reactions to them. Oxford University’s website page on vaccines provides some details:
In the UK between 1997 and 2003 there were a total of 130 reports of anaphylaxis following ALL immunisations. During these six years, around 117 million doses of vaccines were given in the UK. This means that the overall rate of anaphylaxis is around 1 in 900,000.
So, there is a risk, but as you can see, that risk is extremely low.
What about autism?
The short answer is that vaccines do not cause autism. There have been countless studies across the decades, and those studies have came back with the same answer. This is not good enough for people who believe in conspiracies, as they will only accept the answer they want, no matter the evidence. Still, for the benefit of the tape, so to speak, it is worth noting the following resources:
https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2025/the-evidence-on-vaccines-and-autism
https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/autism-studies.html
https://historyofvaccines.org/getting-vaccinated/vaccine-faq/do-vaccines-cause-autism
https://www.autismspeaks.org/what-causes-autism
https://www.autismspeaks.org/do-vaccines-cause-autism
Other Examples of Vaccine Success
Vaccines have helped control the rates of typhoid, they can help manage outbreaks of cholera, has controlled tetanus, and most famously controlled smallpox, among other diseases. They are a powerful form of preventing dangerous and deadly diseases. In the UK alone, millions of vaccinations are carried out every year, without any issues, and this has been the case for decades. It was the case when I was a child, and it was the case many years before that too. This is the case for most developed countries. Are there people who have had adverse reactions to vaccines? Yes, and that is unfortunate. Is it a widespread issue? No. Have we seen a decline in the cases of dangerous illnesses? Yes, and that decline can be attributed, to a significant degree, to vaccines. The evidence is out there, it is very clear, and the impact of rejecting it in favour of shadowy conspiracies will see these diseases return, with dire consequences. For that reason, I will always offer resistance to those who pedal these ignorant theories.
