Somehow I managed to write a whole column about this flu season without mentioning the word "vaccine" once. It helps, of course, that I'm limited to 600 words! And that I generally try to avoid being all controversial in a column intended to highlight the commonalities of parents rather than foster the polarizing debates that so often plague playgrounds, social networking sites and such.
That being said ... it's not that I don't have opinions. I know, imagine that. Just this morning I felt compelled to respond to a friend's post on Facebook. The post: "I wish people would inform themselves instead of falling into the "fear of pandemic"....." To which I responded with: "Hi friend, I agree with the informing themselves part ... of course it depends on where you get your information and which sources you trust. I think this is such a personal decision and don't blame anyone for making the call either way (NOT saying you do :) ) Just saying that a lot of people who do get vaccinated, like say 7-month pregnant me, didn't do it out of fear and feel like they did a lot of homework on this. We've talked about this before, but the whole vaccine thing has been one of the hardest decisions I've had to make as a parent. Partly, b/c I'm not in the medical field and getting informed is hard when there is so much conflicting information and such powerful personal stories." The comments to follow were generally people who were choosing not to get the H1N1 vaccine but they were also understanding of it being a difficult decision. Interesting to note, for me, was the fact that some of the comments also included stories of some severe reactions to vaccines and one person who died from complications from the vaccine. Well, don't those stories create some fear, too? Wouldn't it be fair, then, to say that fear based on the personal stories of others is also informing some people's decisions not to vaccinate? And isn't that fear valid? I mean those to be rhetorical.
I didn't comment more on my friend's post because there is no point arguing out things like that. I respect her opinion, I trust the same is true in reverse. We all do whatever we feel is best for ourselves and our families. I just think we deserve some credit for being informed even if our conclusions differ. I'm not saying there aren't a bunch of mewling sheep out there. I've met them too. As an aside, and I think I've mentioned this here before but if this whole vaccine debacle is any indication of how public health care would run, it's going to lead me right into the arms of the Republican Party.
p.s. here's the new column link: http://www.newsregister.com/article/42117-baby+board+common+sense+ideas+uncommon+flu+season
