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Don’ t Get Hurt Thoughtlessly
by Mary Barry, MD
I
mean, put a little thought into it. Go hiking alone in the heat without any water, for instance, and then expect to get a cell signal...
Jancee Dunn in the Sept. 8th New York Times“ Well” newsletter had a lot of good ideas about staying safe. I have more.
Apparently, noted Ms. Dunn, ER docs have learned some rules of the road we would do well to follow. In the car, do NOT put your feet up on the dashboard, for instance. In case of collision, the airbag will smash into your legs, then your head. Or, if you are choking, stay where people can see you clutching your throat and gesturing wildly for help. Also, if there are children about, never leave a burner on the stove alight, unless you are standing in front of it. Don’ t give little kids a ride on your lawnmower. Don’ t cut your grass unless you are wearing sturdy shoes, and never ever barefoot. And don’ t take other people’ s medicines – who knows how old or accurate those labels are, or what that little yellow pill really is?
Don’ t, I would add, listen to Secretary Kennedy’ s advice about any vaccine, whatsoever. I wouldn’ t take his advice about how to cross the street.
Don’ t go to Florida unless you and your loved ones are fully vaccinated against measles, Covid, flu, polio, rubella( aka German measles), pneumococcal pneumonia, whooping cough, RSV, Hepatitis B, diphtheria, Haemophilus influenza, mumps and chickenpox. Committee meetings begin this October in the Florida legislature, which is expected to follow the governor’ s lead, and to address multiple potential changes in the state vaccine schedule. Florida State Surgeon General Ladapo has stated,“ If you want vaccines, God bless, you can have as many as you want. And if you don’ t want them, parents should
36 LOUISVILLE MEDICINE have the ability and the power to decide what goes in their children’ s bodies. It’ s that simple.”
It’ s also that stupid. Why risk the death of a single child because the parent refused to listen to both common sense and medical experts? The threat of keeping children out of school( and daycare too) is a solid and time-tested weapon in the public health arsenal. Parents have to work; they want a good education for their children; they want them, above all, to be healthy and safe.“ Protect Every Child” is the best slogan. After all, herd immunity, which protects children who cannot be vaccinated due to major illness, and protects babies as yet too young, is only achieved if nearly all of the herd gets the shots. The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health has estimated that is a 95 % threshold for vaccination; 92 % is just not good enough.
Why risk your own death if you are a grownup who disdains vaccines? Sure, you love Florida in the winter – but so do all those families with their germy kids. The CDC in 2024 estimated that between 1994 and 2023, routine coverage of the cost for usual childhood vaccines, for families unable to afford them, prevented over 500 million cases of illness, 32 million hospital stays and 1,129,000 deaths. If the mandated-vaccine schedule changes, then insurance companies will certainly look at no longer covering this cost. Already, RFK Jr. has removed the recommendation for Covid vaccination for healthy children and pregnant women, throughout the U. S. Removal of such recommendation can work out, to the insurer’ s mind, to removal of payment, and pediatricians and clinics will have a far harder time convincing parents if extra cost is involved. Inevitably, they will lose money over this issue in order to keep doing the right thing by their patients: at least half of pediatric practices already barely break even on the cost of vaccines, and many already lose money.
OPINION