Do Vaccines Make Us Healthy?
Many people misunderstand the science of immunization.
The Senate hearings over the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. for Secretary of Health and Human Services are putting vaccines in the spotlight. Most of us have trusted our government to make sure that vaccines are both safe and effective. Kennedy had called that into question and many people believe their children have been injured. I had a patient whose mother claimed he was normal until he was vaccinated, and he became autistic.
In addition, misrepresentations of the Covid vaccines have also raised public awareness. Many with no medical training were confidently arguing with those of us who have clinical doctorates. They believed the nonsense that the public relations firms told our politicians. It is now coming back to haunt them.
I have several books that are anti-vaccination. I have not thoroughly read them. Being anti-vaccination is not one of my battles. However, a couple of decades ago, I was introduced to an email list as a young, unnamed chiropractor. The list-serve included a professor at a medical school. The first question I was asked: Do you believe in vaccination? I replied that vaccination was not part of my practice, so I had no opinion. Based on the evidence I have seen, I remain unconvinced. They spent the next two weeks with daily emails to convince me that vaccines were effective. I used the aforementioned books to question their “science.” It did not go well for them.
A vaccine does not give you immunity. That is the first thing you must know. An effective vaccine for a given virus is one that your body recognizes as similar to the virus. You create immunity by creating antibodies to the vaccine. If you fail to create antibodies, that does not necessarily mean the vaccine failed. YOU failed. If most people do not create antibodies, then the vaccine fails. The first step is to determine the percentage of people who develop antibodies to the vaccine.
Is the vaccine safe? That is the follow up question. During Covid, we didn’t have time to do long term follow ups. In fact, the flu vaccines change every year so long term follow ups are never done. What about other vaccines? I believe those are questions Kennedy and I would like answered.
Can a person be exposed to the virus and not have symptoms? Yes. Many healthy people will respond by creating antibodies and never know they were sick. That is the goal of vaccination.
If a person has the virus, can they be a carrier, whether they are vaccinated or not? Of course, that was one of the misrepresentations of the Covid vaccines.
Can you still get the disease if you have been vaccinated? Yes. If your body did not create antibodies to the vaccine, you do not have immunity. For example, my neighbor believes she had Covid before any testing. She got multiple vaccinations and has had Covid at least three times. For her, the immunity is not lasting.
Is vaccination better than natural immunity? Think about it. How could it be? If your body is creating the antibodies, the best vaccination can do is be equal to natural immunity. I am unaware of any research that shows vaccination (artificial immunity) is better than natural immunity (getting the disease) for any disease. This was another misrepresentation of the Covid vaccines.
The short answer is NO! Vaccines do not make you healthy. Your health is your ability to adapt to the viruses or vaccines and create antibodies.
Science is never settled. That is what makes science powerful. We test. We re-test. Sometimes drugs cause unexpected problems and are pulled from the market. Vaccines should be no different.
Yes!