SuppliedLike many children in Canada, I got the flu when I was a kid. But I had the good fortune of living in a part of the world where vaccines, like the flu shot, are widely accessible. Other than a few miserable days under by blanket, I ended up being perfectly fine. Vaccines are the closest thing to miracle medicine that we have, saving millions of lives and even eradicating smallpox.
But in the age of flat-earthers and alternative medicines, there exists a group of concerned parents who refuse to vaccinate their children based on the belief that vaccines have harmful effects on the human body, such as causing autism. As well, some have claimed vaccines carry mercury in them, or even that they contain parts of aborted fetuses.
Besides being wildly untrue, these claims are dangerous. When parents don’t vaccinate their children, they’re endangering not just their children, but everyone their children interact with, including classmates or daycare playmates.
In order to combat this threat, a new law has just come into effect in Italy, banning unvaccinated children from attending preschool. Under this law, older children may attend school if they aren’t fully vaccinated, but their parents may face a fine of up to €500 euros ($754 CAD). This comes after a report by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control that stated in Italy, there has been 165 cases of measles in January 2019 alone.
This problem isn’t limited to just Europe. Both Alberta and British Columbia have experienced small measles outbreaks. Alberta Health Services issued a warning in February for any who were on a flight from Vancouver to Edmonton, stating they may have come in contact with measles. More recently, a warning was issued for those in Calgary and Cochrane who may have come in contact with the highly contagious disease.
We’re living in the most advanced time in medical history, which is why it’s so mind-boggling that people are passing up the option to keep their children healthy in exchange for the endangerment of other people’s kids, newborns, and the elderly. It’s especially mind boggling in the face of the copious amount of evidence that vaccines save lives.
Other than the entirety of the anti-vax movement being spurred on by false medical reports, the most disturbing thing about anti-vax parents is that they harbour so much hatred for neurodivergent people that they would rather have a dead kid than one with autism. Autism is not a disease, but rubella, polio, and mumps are — and preventable ones at that.
B.C. is planning to implement mandatory reports of vaccination status in the next school year, but they, along with the rest of the world, should follow in Italy’s footsteps and put vaccination into law.
Do you remember getting measles as a child? No? Exactly. Vaccinate your kids.
