Ta, Robyn. I was born too early for the MMR vaccine. At age six, I nearly died of measles followed by Reye's syndrome. My late mother saved my life by putting me into a bathtub full of cold water and ice to bring down my core temperature. My windows were covered with quilts so I wouldn't go blind. Got mumps the following year, and rubella. I remembered Younger Sister having chickenpox, but couldn't remember whether or not I had them. I had my PCP check my titers. Anything over 649 means one is immune. My number was 1,111. I don't need Shingrix, I'm immune to both chickenpox and shingles. Any parent whose child is not vaccinated should be shunned from polite society; it's child abuse.
"The Trump administration appears to be planning to fight to keep its measles elimination status, even as it increasingly spreads misinformation and skepticism about life-saving vaccines.
To lose its elimination status, a country must have continuous transmission of measles for 12 straight months. Public health experts say the U.S. hit that grim milestone on Tuesday — ironically, exactly one year after Donald Trump, who has put anti-science and anti-vaccine figures in charge of public health, was inaugurated for his second term. The Trump administration has claimed that it shouldn’t lose its status because there are multiple different measles outbreaks across the country, and that there isn’t enough proof the outbreaks are all connected."
Brain Worm Bobby said only very sick children should* die from the measles. How are we going to make America healthy again if we don’t get rid of all the sickos? That’s just eugenics 101.
" these “crunchy MAHA moms” spent a lot of time talking about how they just wanted more research to “prove” vaccines are safe, only to admit at the end that even if they had all the proof in the world, they still wouldn’t get their kids vaccinated"
Mary Baker Eddy must be sooooo proud of moms like these. As one mother put it in the linked video, "we're done blindly trusting Man, we are only trusting G-d, and that's it."
-----
“The children were just being protected against way too many diseases. Isn’t it better that 10 to 15 percent of those infected with meningitis die and another 20 percent of the survivors lose limbs or have other lifelong complications"
* I just can't grok how Americans can ignore the success of the "Denmark model" even though the population demographics and ready access to healthcare are vastly different. Oh... wait...
> "At first glance, this raises the question: why do we need all these vaccines in the U.S. if other countries, including countries like Denmark which has better overall health outcomes, do not? In short – the United States isn’t Denmark! There are some significant differences between the U.S. and Denmark, which is why each nations’ vaccine recommendations have been independently created to best fit the health needs of their populations.
[...]
◾ In the U.S., a much larger population covering a much larger area means we are faced by more and different infectious disease threats.
◾ Denmark has a universal access health care system that means residents have free comprehensive health services, but in the U.S., we have a fragmented multi-payer system. Because of this, Denmark has increased ability to test people for illness, treat disease earlier, and care for the health of their population much more consistently and equitably than the U.S. They have a much more robust maternal/child follow-up program for babies and new moms, with more frequent, guaranteed touchpoints for care." https://vaccinateyourfamily.org/danish-vaccine-schedule/
Of course Bobbie Brainworm, the rest of the whackjobs in HHS (I'm staring at you Oz), and the true believers in MAHA all fail to note one key thing -- besides the vast difference in demographics:
> "According to the European Centers for Disease Control’s (ECDC) vaccine scheduler tool, none of the other 29 ECDC countries recommends a schedule that targets just 10 diseases. In fact, many countries recommend vaccines for 15 or more diseases including Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, and Poland; Austria’s schedule targets 17 diseases, even more than the U.S. now." https://www.kff.org/quick-take/do-we-want-to-outsource-u-s-vaccine-policy-to-denmark/
To get an idea as to how much Bobbie has fucked with the childhood vaxx schedules see:
RFK Jr. needs to be sanctioned/arrested for practicing medicine without a license. Any child who dies is his victim and any hearing loss or other, they need to sue him.
Insert pic of me hitting brick wall with head. WTAF people? This is not just a conservative thing sadly, there are some lefty anti-virus "vaccines give the autisms" kookamungas on the fringe left as well. Right or left, I bet they all got crap marks in science.
I think your children should get vaccinated, but it's not so much because of herd immunity. It's more that I don't think that your innocent children should risk grave, possibly lifelong suffering, or even death, because you're idiots. Please try to grow brains.
A lot of those college boys are at risk of being rendered sterile from their exposure to measles.
Excellent column as always.
When the hell did people get so fucking stupid as to turn their backs on science?
I'll never understand it. 🤦♀️
Ta, Robyn. I was born too early for the MMR vaccine. At age six, I nearly died of measles followed by Reye's syndrome. My late mother saved my life by putting me into a bathtub full of cold water and ice to bring down my core temperature. My windows were covered with quilts so I wouldn't go blind. Got mumps the following year, and rubella. I remembered Younger Sister having chickenpox, but couldn't remember whether or not I had them. I had my PCP check my titers. Anything over 649 means one is immune. My number was 1,111. I don't need Shingrix, I'm immune to both chickenpox and shingles. Any parent whose child is not vaccinated should be shunned from polite society; it's child abuse.
"The Trump administration appears to be planning to fight to keep its measles elimination status, even as it increasingly spreads misinformation and skepticism about life-saving vaccines.
To lose its elimination status, a country must have continuous transmission of measles for 12 straight months. Public health experts say the U.S. hit that grim milestone on Tuesday — ironically, exactly one year after Donald Trump, who has put anti-science and anti-vaccine figures in charge of public health, was inaugurated for his second term. The Trump administration has claimed that it shouldn’t lose its status because there are multiple different measles outbreaks across the country, and that there isn’t enough proof the outbreaks are all connected."
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/us-lose-measles-elimination-status_n_69713eb7e4b0dfed7798240c?origin=home-latest-news-unit
RFK Jr. has a concept of a plan...to kill as many kids as he can.
Brain Worm Bobby said only very sick children should* die from the measles. How are we going to make America healthy again if we don’t get rid of all the sickos? That’s just eugenics 101.
*And yes, “should” is the word he used.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/rfk-jr-spews-wild-anti-041258996.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAABN_r61_qiozeO_HVjOXgn4Bf_OQIPuLXqCZK9hS7dJC-DJgzeoJgPM0fSAH15MEcVIV5PCnmiP-D6WM1bQDwndmrnlmDXzPuh692MvCLTRZRfkIe7ZKU3anXgSxLF3Zc2NPAiorKa1qGsKfiRmrYdL0dvm8MhUt6MrXj7DtNB1j
Lol I think I've heard of that 'middle ages never happened' conspiracy theory.
https://substack.com/profile/157420297-kirsty-gnome-poledance-himmler/note/c-203156353
so deaths by measles have gone up 300% (see how icky it is when you weaponise statistics, RWNJ? maybe you should stick to truth?????)
What about the chronic disease occupying the Oval Office, Bobby Brainworm? Or the mutations in the Cabinet? Y'all deserve a double dose of Flavor Aid.
" these “crunchy MAHA moms” spent a lot of time talking about how they just wanted more research to “prove” vaccines are safe, only to admit at the end that even if they had all the proof in the world, they still wouldn’t get their kids vaccinated"
Mary Baker Eddy must be sooooo proud of moms like these. As one mother put it in the linked video, "we're done blindly trusting Man, we are only trusting G-d, and that's it."
-----
“The children were just being protected against way too many diseases. Isn’t it better that 10 to 15 percent of those infected with meningitis die and another 20 percent of the survivors lose limbs or have other lifelong complications"
* I just can't grok how Americans can ignore the success of the "Denmark model" even though the population demographics and ready access to healthcare are vastly different. Oh... wait...
> "At first glance, this raises the question: why do we need all these vaccines in the U.S. if other countries, including countries like Denmark which has better overall health outcomes, do not? In short – the United States isn’t Denmark! There are some significant differences between the U.S. and Denmark, which is why each nations’ vaccine recommendations have been independently created to best fit the health needs of their populations.
[...]
◾ In the U.S., a much larger population covering a much larger area means we are faced by more and different infectious disease threats.
◾ Denmark has a universal access health care system that means residents have free comprehensive health services, but in the U.S., we have a fragmented multi-payer system. Because of this, Denmark has increased ability to test people for illness, treat disease earlier, and care for the health of their population much more consistently and equitably than the U.S. They have a much more robust maternal/child follow-up program for babies and new moms, with more frequent, guaranteed touchpoints for care." https://vaccinateyourfamily.org/danish-vaccine-schedule/
Of course Bobbie Brainworm, the rest of the whackjobs in HHS (I'm staring at you Oz), and the true believers in MAHA all fail to note one key thing -- besides the vast difference in demographics:
> "According to the European Centers for Disease Control’s (ECDC) vaccine scheduler tool, none of the other 29 ECDC countries recommends a schedule that targets just 10 diseases. In fact, many countries recommend vaccines for 15 or more diseases including Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, and Poland; Austria’s schedule targets 17 diseases, even more than the U.S. now." https://www.kff.org/quick-take/do-we-want-to-outsource-u-s-vaccine-policy-to-denmark/
To get an idea as to how much Bobbie has fucked with the childhood vaxx schedules see:
https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/imz-schedules/child-adolescent-age.html (updated schedule as of Aug 2025)
As opposed to:
https://www.hhs.gov/childhood-immunization-schedule/index.html
* The new HHS guidelines amounts to nothing less than gubmint sponsored Eugenics.
fnord
"Clearly, this is a resounding victory for very stupid people across the land."
Is this America's new slogan?
RFK Jr. needs to be sanctioned/arrested for practicing medicine without a license. Any child who dies is his victim and any hearing loss or other, they need to sue him.
Insert pic of me hitting brick wall with head. WTAF people? This is not just a conservative thing sadly, there are some lefty anti-virus "vaccines give the autisms" kookamungas on the fringe left as well. Right or left, I bet they all got crap marks in science.
Yeah, there's definitely some horseshoe theory going on in the MAHA camp.
We're taking medical advice from a former Heroin addict, and brain worm survivor!
Yeah, I wonder what made Bobby Jr. so mad at needles all of a sudden.
I guess it’s a move up from horse paste trump?
Dear anti-vax idiots:
I think your children should get vaccinated, but it's not so much because of herd immunity. It's more that I don't think that your innocent children should risk grave, possibly lifelong suffering, or even death, because you're idiots. Please try to grow brains.
Sincerely,
Bitter Scribe