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<\/a>Ever since Edward Jenner pioneered immunization against smallpox in the late 18th <\/sup>century, fear has spawned powerful vaccine foes. Long before Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., became the contemporary face of the movement, the National Anti-Vaccination League rose to challenge Britain\u2019s compulsory-vaccination laws.\u00a0 But the safety and efficacy of medications have improved tremendously over the decades.\u00a0 Often featuring some ludicrous claims, the central thesis of most \u201canti-vaxxers\u201d \u2013 that the injections are more dangerous than the diseases they\u2019re meant to prevent \u2013 has never been less valid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (It\u2019s a credit to medical science that the last time I inquired, a virologist said the risk of getting infected with smallpox from inoculation was greater than by living unvaccinated because the once-dreaded disease had been virtually eradicated \u2013 by vaccines!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the other hand, is it illogical for informed people to reject questionable Chinese, Russian or Indian vaccines — or even hold out for an mRNA vaccine from Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna when only those from AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson are offered? As for me, I would gladly accept the first one available and approved by credible regulatory authorities. Yet this obviously high comfort level has a rather old backstory that needs telling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Perhaps my earliest childhood recollection is of a trip to Atlantic City with my sister Reissa, my mother\u2019s young sister Ruth, and my parents. All I remember of it was watching my mother and father ride off in the motel\u2019s golf cart, presumably to tour the property. My attempts over the years to reconstruct the trip became a Rashomon<\/em>-like experience, as all of the participants recalled certain details differently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, everybody agreed on why our Atlantic City vacation ended so badly. It was the late 1950s or early 1960s, and Reissa, Ruthie, Mom and I had all been immunized for polio \u2013 but not my father. Dad fell deathly ill, although he was fortunately spared the paralysis often associated with that sickness. I heard that Uncle Ralph drove down from Montreal to bring the children home while Mom waited as my father recovered well enough to return.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When asked why my dad alone was unvaccinated, my late mother always gave me the unsatisfactory answer that he was too busy with work. Since then, he has confessed to believing that he really didn\u2019t need it. \u201cI thought I was a big shot, and it almost killed me,\u201d he stated, having learned the proverbial hard way. And so earlier this year, at the age of 88, he rolled up his sleeve twice for Pfizer-BioNTech jabs without hesitation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Recently, I strolled over to a local chain drugstore to get my seasonal influenza shot. There was little waiting and no out-of-pocket expense, thanks to my comprehensive (albeit costly) medical insurance. Back in March I received two doses of the … Continue reading