Daniel Aridgides

Vaccines are one of the biggest public health victories in the modern era, just behind having sewers instead of dropping waste into the streets. There are decades of research that prove them safe and effective against diseases such as polio which are now staging a comeback thanks to the misguided opposition to vaccines generally. This years' flu seasons is one of the worst I have seen as a physician, no doubt because more people are now refusing flu vaccination than ever before. The crusade against vaccination has to stop. Measles can kill. Polio can kill. Flu can kill. Covid can kill. Just because they don't always do so doesn't make it any better for the people who will undoubtedly lose their lives from these. Not everyone who drives drunk will kill a pedestrian but we still make it illegal because it markedly increases the chances of that happening and it is rightly considered a public health risk. We should view vaccines in the same light. Those who get vaccinated protect not only themselves but others as well. Taking away funding will only encourage people further and risk the health of the general population. It is no exaggeration to say that people will die as a result of these policies. You may be telling yourself "I had such and such disease and I was fine after" and the majority of the time that will be the case but some people will not be fine. You have to ask yourself how many in the latter category you are willing to keep on your conscience.