There is no question that immunizations save lives, and the reason to have them is obvious and clear. The only reason for one to be hesitant about vaccines is the concern over possible side effects.
So the real question is, "Are they safe?"
How they work
Generally speaking, vaccines work by introducing an "immitation" of the disease for the body to learn how to fight it - without actually having it. Then when exposed to the actual disease in the future, the body has already built up a defense.
Note: The Covid "vaccine" works differently! (Click here for a full description)
Regardless of your position, there are some vaccinations that your child MUST have if they are going to be able to attend public school. Here is a listing by grade.
Day Care, and Pre-K:
Diphtheria,Tetanus, and Pertussis vaccine (DTaP)
How it works:
Click Here for a Full Description
Uses antibodies from horses that have built up immunity.
Kills the bacteria through pasturizatiion.
Kills the toxin with formaldehyde.
Adverse reactions:
Side effects are uncommon, mild, and go away within a few days.
Crying - 7.6%
Irritability - 37.8%
Soreness or swelling - 28%
Fever - 66%
Fatigue - 0.4%
Loss of appetite - 25%
Vomiting - 7.9%
Hepatitis B vaccine
How it works:
Click Here for a Full Description
A harmless Hepatitis B surface protien is grown in yeast cells.
This protien is then injected into humans.
Adverse reactions:
Side effects are uncommon, mild, and go away within a few days.
Localised pain, redness and swelling at the injection site.
Low-grade fever.
Being unsettled, irritable, tearful, generally unhappy, drowsy and tired.
A lump that may last many weeks, but not needing treatment.
Measles, Mumps and Rubella vaccine (MMR)
How it works: Click Here for a Full Description
The virus is passed through chick embryo cells at least 40 times.
Each time it gets passed it becomes weaker.
When you’re injected with the weakened virus, it activates the immune system.
Adverse reactions:
One in six people can run a low fever, and one in 20 get a mild rash.
About one in 3,000 children who get the MMR vaccine suffers a seizure, however this is caused by the fever that the vaccine may cause - not directly from the vaccine itself. See (Fevers)
Polio vaccine
Click Here for a Full Description
How it works:
The poliovirus is purified and killed with formaldehyde.
When injected, the inactive virus elicits antibodies in the bloodstream, but the killed virus cannot cause the disease.
Adverse reactions:
Side effects are uncommon, mild, and go away within a few days.
Soreness/Redness near the injection site.
Low-grade fever.
Varicella (Chickenpox) vaccine
How it works:
Click Here for a Full Description
The virus is grown in fibroblast cells. (Fibroblast cells are found in tendons and cartilage.)
Because fibrolast cells are not where the virus naturally reproduces, (chickenpox lives in the throat lining) the genes that tell the virus how to reproduce itself become changed.
When injected, the changed virus now reproduces itself weakly enough as to not cause chickenpox, but just strong enough to still illicit an immune response in the body.
Adverse reactions:
Up to 3% of children who get the vaccine, actually get chicken pox from the vaccine.
Soreness and redness around the site of the injection – 1 in 5 children.
Mild rash – 1 in 10 children.
High temperature.
Serious allergic reaction (anaphylaxis) - 1 in a million vaccinated people.
Haemophilus influenzae type b conjugate vaccine (HiB)
How it works:
Click Here for a Full Description
The virus is passed through chick embryo cells at least 40 times.
Each time it gets passed it becomes weaker.
When you’re injected with the weakened virus, it activates the immune system.
Adverse reactions:
2 children in 10 have:
Pain, redness or swelling at the site of the injection.
A high temperature.
Irritability.
Loss of appetite.
Sleepiness.
Anaphylaxis can also happen but is extremely rare.
Pneumococcal Conjugate vaccine (PCV)
How it works:
Click Here for a Full Description
The virus is passed through chick embryo cells at least 40 times.
Each time it gets passed it becomes weaker.
When you’re injected with the weakened virus, it sets up an infection that activates the immune system.
Adverse reactions:
These side effects are usually mild and last for 1-2 days.
Pain, redness, and swelling at the injection site - 50%
Limited movement of the injected arm - 20%
Tiredness - 40%
Headache - 20%
Fever - 20%
Decreased appetite - 40%
Muscle pain and joint pain -10%
Anaphylaxis - 1 in a million
Middle school and High School:
Tdap vaccine for Grades 6-12
How it works:
This booster is made the same way as the original, and the side effects are the same.
The vaccine's protection decreaes over time. These "boosters" are needed every 10 years to maintain protection against the diseases.
Meningococcal conjugate vaccine (MenACWY) Grades 7-12
How it works:
Click Here for a Full Description
The vaccine is made from taking part of just the outer coating of the bacteria, and then growing it in a tetanus protein.
Because the part is only from the harmless outer coating of the toxin, it can't actually give you the disease, but the body is still fooled into thinking it's the real disease, and then produces the neccssary antibodies to fight it if it really comes.
Adverse reactions:
Side effects are uncommon, mild, and go away within a few days.
Pain and redness at the injection site.
Fever.
Headache.
Fatigue.
Grade 12:
Booster dose of MenACWY on or after 16th birthday
What it's for:
The first vaccine declines within 5 years. Teens need a booster at 16 years old for protection when they are at highest risk.
The booster is made the same way as the original, and the side effects are the same.
Covid Vaccine (Not mandated for school)
What it's for:
Children are at a lower risk for covid than adults. . Healthy kids dont die of covid, and most dont even show symptoms.
The shot does not prevent transmission or contraction...so there no reason for them to get it.
How it works:
Scientists re-code messenger DNA (Mrna) that is purposed to teach the body how to produce covid antibodies.
Now, when the body is exposed to the Covid virus, it already has a head start on how to fight it.
The process in the lab involves the use of potentially dangerous agents, but that does not mean that these agents are carried over in the vaccine.
Adverse reactions:
The covid shot is thought to kill non-targeted healthy cells. Either way, it's is still too new to know if it will, or wont cause long term side effects.
Immdiate symptoms are mild and last about 1 to 3 days.
Soreness at the injection site,
Fatigue,
Headache,
Body aches.
Fever.
"Do they cause autism?"
You are not going to find any study that connects vaccines to autisim - But I am not the trusting type. To make up my own mind, I have to know - How could a vaccine potentially cause autism?
To know that - I would have to know what causes autism - And that's a problem, because we don't really know.
It is well understood that some metals cause brain and health issues including alziemers and dementia when injested - and that some vaacies have alimunum and mercury. According to my research, hundreds of thousands of children who receivedvaccines with mercury were compared to hundreds of thousands of children who received the same vaccines without. The results showed that the risk of autism was the same in both groups;
Although my research shows that the levels of these metals in vaccines are insignificant when compared to what we normally ingest throughout our lives, it could be said no amount is safe, and the less the better.
Summary:
flu vaccines and one type of Td vaccine contain a small amount of thimerosal.
Thimerosal contains a form of mercury (ethylmercury) that does not cause mercury poisoning and is safe for use in vaccines. Flu and Td vaccines are also available in thimerosal-free versions.
Aluminum is present in vaccines that prevent hepatitis A, hepatitis B (most versions), diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTaP, Td, Tdap), Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib; one version), human papillomavirus (HPV), Japanese encephalitis (JE), anthrax, meningococcal B, tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) and pneumococcus (conjugate versions).
.Aluminum is not present in vaccines,hat prevent measles, mumps, rubella, chickenpox, mpox/smallpox, yellow fever and rotavirus,
Thimerosal, a very effective preservative, has been used to prevent bacterial contamination in vaccine vials since the 1930s. It contains a type of mercury known as ethylmercury, which is different from the type of mercury found in fish and seafood (methylmercury). At very high levels, methylmercury can be toxic to people, especially to the neurological development of infants.In recent years, several large scientific studies have determined that thimerosal in vaccines does not lead to neurologic problems, such as autism. Nonetheless, because we generally try to reduce people's exposure to mercury when possible, vaccine manufacturers have voluntarily changed their production methods to produce vaccines that are now free of thimerosal or have only trace amounts. They have done this because it is possible to do, not because there was any evidence that the thimerosal was harmful.
Vaccines do not 100% fully protect against the desease that they are intened to prevent, and it is still possible to receive the vaccine and get sick from a different strain not yet protected by the vaccine, and they have ranging side effects.
However, it is safe to say that the risk of contracting these diseases is significantly lower after becoming vaccinated against them. Please read my full in depth article about the detailed specifics of all of the vaccines and their respective diseases, so that you can make a more informed decision. Vaccines in Depth