Elliott Gonnella

Antelope staff

Vaccinations are one of the few things in the world I see as black and white. Unless you or your child will have a serious reaction to the vaccination, you should get it, and get it on time. No religious excuses, no personal qualms. Sit down, squeeze a plush toy, let the medial provider stick you in your arm before moving along with your life.

In saying that, I wager someone called me a “mindless sheep” or a “pharma puppet.” The anti-vaxers, who also go by the name pro-vaccine safety, are adamant that one of the greatest medical advancements in modern times is responsible for many ills of the world. Unfortunately, they taint the internet with memes they pass off as facts by showing a list of scary sounding names, a few skulls and crossbones and an oversized syringe.

Say it with me: ‘Memes are not peer reviewed medicine.’

There has been no evidence that vaccines cause serious impairments like autism. The study often cited by Andrew Wakefield is a textbook example of how not to conduct a scientific experiment. While the errors that took place are too many to list and explain here, the long and the short of it is such: a sample size of twelve children, unethical means of acquiring data and serious conflicts of interest gave birth to the ‘study’ that was disproved and retracted.