Is the childhood vaccination schedule evil?

In an interview with Joe Rogan, AIDS denialist Bret Weinstein promoted the myth that children are given too many vaccines by people who are evil and wish to do them harm.

Studies show that belief in one conspiracy theory often leads to belief in others. Because many conspiracy theories share similar underlying themes, such as distrust in authorities or the idea of hidden, powerful groups controlling events, once someone accepts one conspiracy theory, they become more receptive to others that fit within this worldview. They become trapped in a self-reinforcing cycle of conspiratorial thinking.

Babies are subjected to more challenges to their immune system at birth than they will be in the entire immunization schedule. Keep in mind that the amount of any ingredient in vaccines is very small–smaller than what a child will encounter naturally through living and breathing and eating, and as this study of aluminum in vaccines shows, they do not accumulate in a child’s body to toxic levels.

Because millions and millions of children have followed the vaccine schedule, scientists have been able to conduct studies showing that the schedule is safe.

In the U.S., a special program called the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) helps people who vaccines may have harmed. This program exists because vaccines protect public health, and very rare adverse reactions can occur. However, vaccine makers are not free from responsibility—this system ensures claims can be handled fairly without discouraging companies from developing vaccines that save lives.

But are vaccines unavoidably harmful? In 2011, the Supreme Court decided a case called Bruesewitz v. Wyeth. This case started when the parents of a girl who was thought to have serious side effects from a vaccine sued the company that made the vaccine. Her parents believed that the vaccine was poorly designed, and that’s what caused her problems.

However, the Supreme Court agreed with the vaccine manufacturer. They said that the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act protects vaccine makers from being sued if a vaccine causes injuries or death *as long as the side effects are unavoidable and the vaccine is made and labeled correctly.* They explained that the law stops any lawsuits that claim a vaccine’s design is defective.

The court didn’t say that all vaccines are “unavoidably unsafe.” The ruling was just about whether the parents could sue under this specific law. The phrase “unavoidably unsafe” was mentioned in the court’s discussion, but it relates to the terms set by the law, not a general statement about vaccines.