Public education is not a fee-for-service system. We pay taxes for public education for the benefit of having an educated society.
Here’s one reason we want an educated society: Educated people understand the concept of marginal cost. Your school district does not spend “approximately $8,000 per student per year.” The marginal cost for your child to attend public school is $0.
By the way, you can’t get your tax money back if you don’t call the police or the fire department this year either. Oh, and if you didn’t drive on the road down the block that was just repaved, you can’t get a tax refund for that either.
Before vaccination against smallpox (using cowpox and other low risk pox viruses) existed, there was the practice of variolation. This was the deliberate use of smallpox scabs and fluids from people who had relatively mild cases of smallpox to infect others to immunize them against smallpox. Severe forms of smallpox were feared so much that people would take the substantial risk of variolation to immunize themselves. Of course, when the much lower risk cowpox was discovered to immunize against smallpox, variolation gave way to vaccination for obvious reasons.
“I don’t know anyone who had polio.” I grew up when kids were routinely being vaccinated but I know two people who had polio. One of them walks with two crutches. The other kind of limps along. I’m not an expert on polio but I understand, they were the lucky ones. My limping friend was born in the late 60s and adopted from a country which apparently was protecting their babies on the californiaaa plan from the risks of the polio vaccine. He contracted polio as a toddler. The other person was born in the 50s and I guess the vaccine came too late.
Sue, I am an immigrant. Vaccination of immigrants is enforced even less than all other immigration laws. Just trust me. Any handwritten document is accepted. In the absence of any document, you are asked, if you were immunized or not. Most people say “yes” just to avoid the additional questions.
My point is: unvaccinated infants (very small percentage of the population) is the smallest problem for the US herd immunity.
I am an immigrant I am not vaccinated against most chickenpox, polio, measles, and many other ones. I do not remember anyone at the immigration who required me to vaccinate. I may be wrong, many years had passed. However, I am positive that 1) I am not vaccinated and 2) I never ever had a issue with it. BTW, I work for the university. I worked for a number of hospitals. I never ever was required to be vaccinated. Of course, you are free to disbelieve …
Newborns are NOT at high risk of communal diseases. Newborns are protected by immunoglobulins that they received from mother’s blood, while “in utero” and immunoglobulins that they receive with breast milk. Nature is a smart lady.
Newborn immune system is not fully developed. It is much easier to mess up immune system of a newborn baby (and end up with lifelong allergies) than an immune system of an adult.
Vaccines are tested on adults. Nobody tests vaccines on newborns. In other words, all vaccines that are given to small babies are not tested on this population in clinical trials. Post clinical trials are, of course, done. However, post clinical trials are not as sensitive as preclinical.
Again, I am not against vaccines. Please remember that ALL vaccines have side effects.
So if an immigrant mother doesn’t have any immunity, can she pass any immunity on to her child by breastfeeding? I think not. How can you pass on protection from measles if you’ve never had measles?
My immigrant child needed all the immunity she could get. When she first came here, she caught every bug, every virus that she came in contact with. I’ve never seen a child so sick as when she had the flu. She had no immunity especially against American germs.
She also had terrible teeth because she’d had no fluoride in utero or after.
@californiaaa
“Vaccines are tested on adults. Nobody tests vaccines on newborns.”
newborns are not the ones who participate in clinical trials because they cannot give informed consent. Experimenting on unknowing patients is not an endorsed practice.
“Newborns are NOT at high risk of communal diseases.” read http://kidshealth.org/parent/infections/common/neonatal_infections.html
Newborns are not immune to diseases just because the mother passes SOME antibodies to them. They need those antibodies so it doesn’t take a single pathogenic particle to cause infection. If mother’s milk conferred complete or even better than normal protection to babies then the immune system would have evolved to be based on that and we would not need vaccines.
“My point is: unvaccinated infants (very small percentage of the population) is the smallest problem for the US herd immunity.” Stop bringing their population size up. We have already covered that they are great targets for vaccination for various reasons which I personally spelled out to you. If you are still confused go back and read that post.
“Please remember that ALL vaccines have side effects.”
This is a very wrong and misleading statement. All vaccines have POSSIBLE side effects. The vast, vast majority of all vaccines administered do not have any side effect.
" I never ever was required to be vaccinated. "
We have already discussed that all adults should be required to be vaccinated and gone over the details of why it hasn’t happened. Stop posting things that have been previously addressed.
< The vast, vast majority of all vaccines administered do not have any side effect.>
Really? I don’t want to discourage you, but … just read the section “possible side effects” for each individual vaccine. Every vaccine had some possible side effects. Possible means - “some people will get it, some won’t”.
Again, I don’t think it is fair to vaccinate babies, because we can’t vaccinate adults. Ask Congress to make mandatory vaccination for adults first, than go after babies.
how many babies (in USA) are dying from communal diseases?
how many seniors are dying from communal diseases?
The only reason, why government is vaccinating babies - is economical. This is the cheapest population to vaccinate. This is NOT the population that is most sensitive to communal diseases.
< When she first came here, she caught every bug, every virus that she came in contact with. I’ve never seen a child so sick as when she had the flu. She had no immunity especially against American germs.>
I am not against all immunizations. Certainly, rotavirus vaccine is helpful to babies, because rotavirus is a common disease in USA.
I already explained upthread why polio vax is necessary. To review: Until the disease is eradicated worldwide, there could be a resurgence at any time.
Further, it’s communicable, not communal, disease.