Looking back at Vaccine Safety
Since the 1960’s there has been an upward trend of vaccination to counter disease, whether it be viral or bacterial. The backbone of the creation of these products is of course the trials conducted, and probably even more important the long term safety via vaccine surveillance programs. Products such as the Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD) and the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS) informs the regulatory agencies, manufacturers, and public if there is a population level or long term safety risk that was not captured in clinical trials. I am here to propose we take a second look at these products, their use, and the recommendations that currently exist - as according to the Institute of Medicine:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK206938/
“The committee believes that although the available evidence is reassuring, studies designed to examine the long-term effects of the cumulative number of vaccines or other aspects of the immunization schedule have not been conducted.”
As we add to the immunization schedule this should be a point of discussion. The problem has become the topic of even discussing safety of Vaccines has become the societal equivalent of yelling “fire” in a crowded room. We need to find ways past this paradigm so that we can have open and honest discussions and truly answer some legitimate questions. What do you think?