The Claim:
An old claim–that childhood immunizations cause autism, ADHD, eczema, diabetes, etc.–has a new twist in this Tweet that claims these vaccines are manufactured to harm children.
The Facts:
First, many, many studies exist showing vaccines are safe.
Vaccines do confer immunity. We see varying levels of immunity depending on the type of vaccine, but all vaccines confer some amount of immunity. Immunity, at its base, is protection from disease. Vaccines stimulate the immune system in a way that its primed and ready to protect you when you encounter actual pathogens. Not all vaccines prevent 100% of diseases 100% of the time, but that doesn’t at all mean that they aren’t effective in protecting the people who receive them and their communities. Even if you are vaccinated and come down with a case of disease, your illness is most likely to be less severe than if you hadn’t been vaccinated in the first place.
Take the MMR vaccine; it is about 97% effective against measles after 2 doses, meaning 97% of the vaccinated people who are exposed to measles will not develop measles, and that protection is thought to protect for life. DTaP is about 90% effective, and the chickenpox vaccine will protect against disease about 90% of the time, yet almost 100% of the time against severe disease.
Some vaccines, such as those against influenza and COVID are more limited in their efficacy, and that protection does tend to wane over time, necessitating additional vaccines and boosters, but again, those who have been vaccinated usually have much more mild disease.
We know that the real purpose of the vaccine is to protect a person and the community around them. They were not made to give anyone lifelong ailments. Multiple studies have looked at vaccines and SIDS, and there is no evidence to show that vaccines cause SIDS. And when childhood vaccination uptake decreased during the early years of the pandemic, there was no subsequent decrease in SIDS rates.
We also have plenty of evidence that vaccines do not cause autism, ADHD, eczema, or diabetes. We can conclude that since they don’t cause these lifelong ailments, they were never intended to.
Disclaimer: Science is always evolving and our understanding of these topics may have evolved too since this was originally posted. Be sure to check out our most recent posts and browse the latest Just the Facts Topics for the latest.
Just the Facts Newsletter:
Correcting this week's disinformation
Sign up to get a weekly look at the latest vaccination facts as we debunk the latest false vaccination claims making the rounds on the internet.