I can feel the convulsions of my arm. My eyes burn. I’m in pain. I’m unable to sleep. Band-aids don’t fix bullet-holes, Taylor Swift was right. I recently got shot. Twice. No not from a bullet silly, from a needle, the bullet-holes were for dramatic effect. 

Since their inception, vaccines have been doubted, I mean, it does sound counterintuitive to inject yourself with a disease to prevent you from getting it. In recent times, people have even linked vaccines to side-effects like Autism. With the pain in my arms from my two shots, I decided to do some research and found out that vaccines aren’t as bad as people say.

An article by Scientific American posited that by the age of two, children could get up to 30 vaccinations to make up for the now dwindling immunity you gained in your mother’s womb. It went on to say this: “The vast majority of children do not experience anything worse than short-lived redness or itching at the spot of the injection” and this: “The overwhelming medical evidence finds that most vaccine side effects among newborns and young children are mild—swelling, redness and a small, hard lump at the site of the injection—and typically pass within a couple of days. A far less common but serious vaccine side effect, occurring in fewer than one in a million cases, is an immediate allergic reaction that can be treated with common medications to ease itching or swelling or, in more serious cases, by administering epinephrine.”

What are the real dangers?

In fact, several other major scientific journals of medicine, and scientists from magazines such as the Harvard Public Health Magazine claim that there is overwhelming evidence that points to vaccines having no serious long term effects. Further research proved to me that the main cause of concern may be with the MMR vaccine for Measles, Mumps, and Rubella which have led to one in 3000 children having seizures in America. These seizures are not fatal, however. Only sparsely will you ever see casualties. Plus, with the danger of diseases like Measles, I think that minor risk is worth it (just Google what Measles looks like if you don’t believe me).

So where has all the vaccine vexation come from?

Celebrities have held views against vaccinations without realizing that cases of autism don’t necessarily correlate to vaccines. It may literally be a coincidence since you get most of your vaccines by the age of two and that age also happens to be the most common period for identifying Autism. (So don’t blame the vaccine, pal.) Also, in some cases where doctors have bad medical practices, vaccines may be contaminated or needles left unclean. It is therefore important for you to go to safe, certified locations to get your vaccines. Side effects may not be the vaccine’s fault, but the administrator’s own incompetence or poor practice.

With that being said, I urge you to get vaccines if you can. It’s okay if you don’t want to risk it, but the numbers prove that negative effects are highly unlikely. Save yourselves from any disease you can. Parents should save their children from any diseases they can. After all, prevention is always better than cure.

— Fabrizio Darby