Reply to
"Reasons Not To Vaccinate"


I have seen these reasons listed on various vaccination debate boards multiple times and have included my responses to them:


Although some of these substances are used in the manufacture of vaccines, the final vaccine product is produced following repeated heating, filtering and purification steps that inactivate and remove these substances. Some additives may remain in a vaccine product in trace amounts (often expressed as parts per million or parts per billion) and are felt to be in such minute amounts that they are not concerning. Reactions to vaccine additives are felt to be allergy related - not due to toxicity. The reference to “poison” is simply overstated.

One should also keep in perspective the trace amounts of these substances in vaccines. For example, I frequently see anti-vax concerns about formaldehyde toxicity that formaldehyde is so potent and damaging that any formaldehyde is “bad” for you. In reality, formaldehyde is formed naturally in the body by simple processes such as the breakdown of methanol in the liver to produce formaldehyde. Methanol is formed in the human body when one drinks orange juice. Free glutamic acid aka MSG is present in breastmilk and the amount appears to increase as a child gets older. Methyl mercury is ubiquitous in our environment.

Another example: I wear contact lenses and use a daily cleaner/wetting/storage solution. This solution contains boric acid. Boric acid occurs naturally as the mineral sassolite but also can be synthesized in the laboratory. It is a household product when used in laundry detergents, a drug when sold as an antiseptic eyewash, an insecticide when used to kill roaches, an herbicide when applied to kill weeds, and a flame retardant when used to fireproof fabrics. The dose of a substance is what makes it a poison. The substances listed above ARE hazardous to human health....when they are present in hazardous *amounts*. The amount in vaccines is considered trace and negligible.

Further explanation at the Canadian Pediatric Society site here (See answers to questions #17 and 18)


  • "Many vaccines are cultured on media such as monkey kidneys, chick embryos and human diploid cells (cells from an aborted fetus) which raises moral concerns, but this also raises concern as to what genetic material is being injected into a child's body along with the vaccine ingredients and what possible consequences that may carry. There is speculation that the HIV virus originated from a bad batch of polio vaccine cultured on green monkey kidneys."

The FDA is responsible for overseeing the vaccine manufacturing process. They have guidelines and regulations to ensure the safest vaccine possible. Cell cultures must be tested for adventitious viral activity and vaccine products must be screened for viable microbial agents prior to release. The speculation regarding HIV/polio vaccine is only speculation and has been addressed by the CDC here .

  • "Vaccines have not been tested for any carcinogenic (cancer causing), teratogenic (gene altering) effects or their effects on the reproductive system (this is stated in the product inserts from the manufacturers)."

This is true. There is no evidence to suggest that vaccine ingredients individually *are* carcinogenic, teratogenic, or adversely affect reproduction in the amounts found in vaccines. It doesn't make sense to me to assume they ARE based on the fact that they have not been “tested”. There are a multitude of things that we eat, touch, inhale, and ingest on a daily basis that have not been similarly "tested".


  • "Vaccines are not 100% effective so the child can still get the disease even if they are vaccinated, and a child can actually get a disease from the vaccine if it is a live vaccine."
Again, true. Although vaccines are not 100% effective, the risks vs benefits of vaccinating is what needs to be weighed. In the case of some vaccines, like the chickenpox vaccine, it prevents severe disease in 95%+ of children.


  • "A person would not normally contract 5 diseases at one time naturally, but a baby is injected with five vaccines at a single visit (sometimes all combined in one shot)"
Contracting 5 different diseases at the same time is not comparable to injecting a child with 5 vaccines. This is also addressed by the CDC here and the Canadian Pediatric Society here (see answer #16).


  • "There is no proof that vaccines are responsible for the decline in certain diseases - better sanitation, medical care and decreased crowding may also have contributed to a decline"
I think there’s no doubt that improved sanitary conditions and medical care has significantly decreased morbidity and mortality from certain diseases but I also think that there *is* proof that without vaccines, those VPD’s would not be at the current incidence that we have now. The CDC’s explanation here and the CPS explanation here (see answer #2)

There is abundant evidence that disease incidence has declined dramatically following vaccination:

MMWR report

another article


  • "By vaccinating children, many cases of certain diseases (ex. measles) have now shifted to the adult population where the disease is may be more serious and debilitating."

I have not seen a source that supports this statement. There have been measles outbreaks - especially in Europe where vaccination rates have declined. There have been deaths of children reported here as a result of natural measles disease.


  • "If a child contracts a disease normally it usually enters through a mucous membrane in their body (ex. nose, throat) and travels through many defense systems in the body before it possibly reaches the bloodstream, but when a child is vaccinated the vaccine is injected intramuscularly and goes almost immediately into the bloodstream so the disease does not go through the normal stages it would have to if it was acquired naturally."

This statement generally reflects a poor understanding of immunology. Unless a person has been previously exposed to a VPD, there are no pre- existing antibodies or “defenses” that a VPD encounters “first”. Injecting a vaccine intramuscularly cannot be equated with vaccine components somehow “invading” the bloodstream. Vaccine antigens injected into muscle is filtered through the lymphatic system where the actual production of antibodies occurs. This information may be found in any standard immunology textbook. The end result of naturally acquired infection vs vaccination is similar...production of appropriate antibodies. What kind of antibodies and the amount of antibodies, of course, varies. I see this “natural route” argument used often on anti-vax sites but when one applies basic immunology principles, it just doesn’t make any sense. More information from the Canadian Pediatric Society here (see answer #6).


  • " There has been a staggering increase in autism (thought to be caused or triggered by the MMR vaccine) and many chronic illnesses (eg asthma) since vaccinations began to be widely used. One theory is that a child's immune system would normally, without vaccination, learn to fight off things like measles, chickenpox, etc. Contracting a natural disease would "strengthen" the child's immune system and they would be better able to fight off other illnesses and infections whether major or minor. Since most children are vaccinated today their body often doesn't have to fight off things like measles, and chickenpox and so their immune systems are actually weaker."

Again, one may consult any immunology textbook. “Fight off disease”....”weaker immune system”? This “theory” does not make immunologic sense. Vaccines stimulate the immune system just as natural infection does, but neither stimulate the entire immune system. In certain instances, natural disease suppresses portions of the immune system. More information from the CPS is here (see answer #23)


  • "If a child catches an illness such as measles, mumps, or even polio, the symptoms may be uncomfortable, but as long as a child isn't immunocompromised the disease/illness isn't likely to cause irreversible or life-threatening complications. For example, polio can cause only flu-like symptoms and nothing else if the person who catches it has a strong immune system."
“Optimum” health does not guarantee anything. One does NOT have to be immunocompromised to experience disease complications.


  • "The same amount of vaccine that is given to a 5 yr. old is given to an 15 mth. old and a 2 mth. old"

The immune response is the same in an infant vs a toddler vs a child. The immune system does not function dependant on body weight. The very minute quantities of additives also have no concerns based on body weight.


  • "The chance of dying or getting a serious side effect from the actual disease is much, much less than the chance of dying or getting an adverse reaction from the vaccine."

Those who advocate the use of vaccines, obviously, disagree.

  • "Pharmaceutical companies have gone through great efforts to create a governtment run tax supported program so that when a serious reaction or death occurs from a vaccine they cannot be sued. The vaccine makers know vaccines can cause great harm, but don’t want to be responsible when they do."

Actually, it wasn’t the pharmaceutical companies who created the NVICP although they did pressure the government to create it. It’s also not solely a “tax supported” program. The NVICP derives funds from the sale of vaccines. The government recognizes that vaccines can, and do, cause harm but that the benefits of vaccinating still outweigh the risks. In order to assure that the general population will continue to benefit from vaccines, the government created this program.


  • "The research not surprisingly indicates that giving any, let alone more than 30 doses, of formulations consisting of: .01-.025% each of formaldehyde, mercury, aluminium, paint thinner, coolant, anti-freeze, detergent phenols, MSG, plus dead animal tissue, aborted fetus tissue, mutated human and animal viruses, bacteria, antibiotics and animal, bacterial and viral DNA, and all but a couple by direct injection into any human or other animal body, particularly to babies and children before the age of 5, is not particularly a good idea. Fortunately Nature did not cruelly design our bodies to require poisons to be injected into them for us to survive. We are damaging our species as a whole, particularly since we are damaging our DNA itself through this criminal, irresponsible procedure."
Regarding "poisons", see first reply above. For an interesting look at how NON-benevolent Mother Nature really is, look here for an interesting view.


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