I hate memes like this, it’s as stupid and harmful as the “If you even look marijuana once you’ll end up selling your body for crack a week later” crap from the 1990s. And it’s stupid and harmful for the same reasons.
The reality is that the vast majority of antivax kids will be perfectly fine and never get any major vaccine-preventable Illness, and even if they do they’ll probably be ok. And that’s why memes like this are harmful. People on the fence can easily observe that these claims are false, that the anti-vax kids are not getting sick, and that can push them into becoming anti-vax themselves.
Well, that highly depends on which vaccines are skipped.
Polio, measles and tetanus want to have a word with you.
There are more, but these were the first that crossed my mind.
I fear smallpox needs to be added to the list rather sooner than later if things progress the way they seem to do.
33% of people who get COVID-19 never know they have it
81% who get sick (so about 54% of the total) get mild symptoms
14% of those who get sick (9% of the total) get severe symptoms
5% of those who get sick (3% of the total) get critical symptoms such as respiratory failure, which can lead to death.
All things considered, COVID-19 is actually way worse than polio. But people feared polio more because kids in iron lungs is way more marketable than old people dying (horribly, I may add.) People today will get the polio vaccine but decline the COVID vaccine, despite COVID being the worse virus.
Measles was somewhat similar: about 1 in 4 people were hospitalized, but only 1-2 out of 1000 died. Tetanus is indeed way worse, with 6.4% of cases leading to death, but it’s not an infectious disease and a lot of people will just get vaccinated post-exposure.
I think it’s clear why a meme campaign today that implied most people who refuse the COVID shot will die of COVID is flawed, but memers are using the same logic with the old illnesses and are thinking it’ll sway antivaxxers. The actual discussion needs to be a lot more nuanced.
I typically tell my patients that vaccines are the best way to protect themselves and their families, and that the best way to keep you from being sick in the first place is to stop the virus from circulating so no one can give it to you. And the way we stop viruses from circulating is to vaccinate everyone, so the virus can no longer spread.
The reality is that the vast majority of antivax kids will be perfectly fine
I remember being incredibly jealous of my sister, because she got the chicken pox vaccine and I (born six years too soon to receive it) did not. Spending a week covered in itchy legions, bathing in oatmeal, and running a horrible fever sucked ass.
“Perfectly fine” is such cowardly bullshit. You’re inflicting undue pain and suffering on people entirely because you’ve shoved the misery of your own childhood illnesses down the memory hole.
People on the fence can easily observe that these claims are false
People who are on the fence have been terrified with fearmongering and pacified with placebos. They’ve been systematically lied to and they still aren’t sold, precisely because contagious diseases still regularly torment our friends and loved ones.
This shit is the same exact propaganda I remember the fucking smokers’ lobby puffing up people’s asses decades ago. Hell, I heard it from Comedy Legend Bill Hicks live, back when he was on his “Why can’t I smoke anymore?” arc. Then he got pancreatic cancer and completely changed his tune. Too late, because the disease put him in the ground at the tender age of 32.
But a congo line of “Why can’t I smoke any more?” comedians rolled up right behind his hearse, churning out that slop for a solid ten more years before so many of them were playing pallbearer to their friends and family that the jokes couldn’t land anymore.
The reality is that the vast majority of antivax kids will be perfectly fine
To add, this only works if the majority of the population is vaccinated. Herd immunity is a real thing, but for us (and the things we vaccinated against) it isn’t achieved through mass infection. It’s through majority adoption of vaccination.
Sure, kids who don’t get vaccinated have been fine in the very recent past, but only because everyone else has had vaccines. We’re starting to see this slipping in lots of “1st world” countries. People see kids not being vaccinated and being ok, because the majority of people are vaccinated. So more people don’t vaccinate their kids. Now we’re getting mass outbreaks of measles, and people who have legitimate medical reasons preventing them from getting vaccinated are at extreme risk.
I’d love to say let them Darwin themselves out of our hair, but that’s not how it works.
That’s only thanks to the people that are vaxxing their kids. You’d prefer to just wait for this type of propoganda until the more personal harm actually becomes reality? Society has been there, it’s not a scare tactic like Marijuana will make you a crack whore. It’s tongue in cheek in the sense that as the antivax movement gains followers this can become an apropos statement.
I’d prefer to not use propaganda at all and instead be honest with people:
Vaccines reduce your risk of getting serious illnesses, and if you get them anyway they tend to be mild.
Without vaccines, many people will get ill, many will be hospitalized, and many will die. Some will have permanent medical problems or even disabilities. We have no way of knowing who exactly these things will happen to until after they already get sick.
Most vaccine-preventable diseases have little to no treatment options after you get ill other than just waiting them out. Antibiotics do not work for most vaccine-preventable illnesses.
Vaccines have been medically proven to be very safe and very effective.
You can only catch a virus if someone else gives it to you. By getting vaccinated, you are protecting not only yourself, but all your friends, family, coworkers, and everyone else important in your life.
A minimum of ten people read your comment and downvoted you, not because you’re an anti vaxxer, but because they have the reading comprehension of a toddler 😂
Its frustrating, because I see too many people read the “Reefer Madness” media machine as this excuse to just smoke their fucking brains out. Like, they go the complete opposite direction and take the D.A.R.E. program as evidence that chronic consumption has no negative side effects.
Now we’re extending it to fucking vaccines? Pure insanity.
I hate memes like this, it’s as stupid and harmful as the “If you even look marijuana once you’ll end up selling your body for crack a week later” crap from the 1990s. And it’s stupid and harmful for the same reasons.
The reality is that the vast majority of antivax kids will be perfectly fine and never get any major vaccine-preventable Illness, and even if they do they’ll probably be ok. And that’s why memes like this are harmful. People on the fence can easily observe that these claims are false, that the anti-vax kids are not getting sick, and that can push them into becoming anti-vax themselves.
Well, that highly depends on which vaccines are skipped.
Polio, measles and tetanus want to have a word with you.
There are more, but these were the first that crossed my mind.
I fear smallpox needs to be added to the list rather sooner than later if things progress the way they seem to do.
Polio is a great example, because:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polio
Compare to COVID-19:
All things considered, COVID-19 is actually way worse than polio. But people feared polio more because kids in iron lungs is way more marketable than old people dying (horribly, I may add.) People today will get the polio vaccine but decline the COVID vaccine, despite COVID being the worse virus.
Measles was somewhat similar: about 1 in 4 people were hospitalized, but only 1-2 out of 1000 died. Tetanus is indeed way worse, with 6.4% of cases leading to death, but it’s not an infectious disease and a lot of people will just get vaccinated post-exposure.
I think it’s clear why a meme campaign today that implied most people who refuse the COVID shot will die of COVID is flawed, but memers are using the same logic with the old illnesses and are thinking it’ll sway antivaxxers. The actual discussion needs to be a lot more nuanced.
I typically tell my patients that vaccines are the best way to protect themselves and their families, and that the best way to keep you from being sick in the first place is to stop the virus from circulating so no one can give it to you. And the way we stop viruses from circulating is to vaccinate everyone, so the virus can no longer spread.
I remember being incredibly jealous of my sister, because she got the chicken pox vaccine and I (born six years too soon to receive it) did not. Spending a week covered in itchy legions, bathing in oatmeal, and running a horrible fever sucked ass.
“Perfectly fine” is such cowardly bullshit. You’re inflicting undue pain and suffering on people entirely because you’ve shoved the misery of your own childhood illnesses down the memory hole.
People who are on the fence have been terrified with fearmongering and pacified with placebos. They’ve been systematically lied to and they still aren’t sold, precisely because contagious diseases still regularly torment our friends and loved ones.
This shit is the same exact propaganda I remember the fucking smokers’ lobby puffing up people’s asses decades ago. Hell, I heard it from Comedy Legend Bill Hicks live, back when he was on his “Why can’t I smoke anymore?” arc. Then he got pancreatic cancer and completely changed his tune. Too late, because the disease put him in the ground at the tender age of 32.
But a congo line of “Why can’t I smoke any more?” comedians rolled up right behind his hearse, churning out that slop for a solid ten more years before so many of them were playing pallbearer to their friends and family that the jokes couldn’t land anymore.
To add, this only works if the majority of the population is vaccinated. Herd immunity is a real thing, but for us (and the things we vaccinated against) it isn’t achieved through mass infection. It’s through majority adoption of vaccination.
Sure, kids who don’t get vaccinated have been fine in the very recent past, but only because everyone else has had vaccines. We’re starting to see this slipping in lots of “1st world” countries. People see kids not being vaccinated and being ok, because the majority of people are vaccinated. So more people don’t vaccinate their kids. Now we’re getting mass outbreaks of measles, and people who have legitimate medical reasons preventing them from getting vaccinated are at extreme risk.
I’d love to say let them Darwin themselves out of our hair, but that’s not how it works.
Smfh…just so stupid.
That’s only thanks to the people that are vaxxing their kids. You’d prefer to just wait for this type of propoganda until the more personal harm actually becomes reality? Society has been there, it’s not a scare tactic like Marijuana will make you a crack whore. It’s tongue in cheek in the sense that as the antivax movement gains followers this can become an apropos statement.
I’d prefer to not use propaganda at all and instead be honest with people:
Those are all great statements but would make for a lousy meme.
A minimum of ten people read your comment and downvoted you, not because you’re an anti vaxxer, but because they have the reading comprehension of a toddler 😂
Its frustrating, because I see too many people read the “Reefer Madness” media machine as this excuse to just smoke their fucking brains out. Like, they go the complete opposite direction and take the D.A.R.E. program as evidence that chronic consumption has no negative side effects.
Now we’re extending it to fucking vaccines? Pure insanity.
Right they’re so cynical.