- Vaccines have been a significant accomplishment in saving lives
- Some people, including Donald Trump, express skepticism about vaccines
- Some parents have taken extreme measures, such as infecting their children with used lollipops, to avoid vaccines
- The confusion and doubt surrounding vaccines have led to an increase in unvaccinated children in certain areas
- The fear of vaccines is often linked to autism, despite numerous studies debunking this claim
- Figures like Andrew Wakefield and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. continue to raise concerns about vaccines
- Some people argue for "safe vaccines" due to concerns about ingredients like thimerosal
- The rise in unvaccinated children has led to outbreaks of diseases like measles in certain communities.

- The video discusses the misconception that vaccines cause autism.
- The speaker uses humor and sarcasm to criticize the idea that fish are stupid and relates it to the belief that vaccines are harmful.
- The mercury used in vaccines is not the same as the harmful mercury found in fish.
- Multiple large studies have found no link between thimerosal (used in vaccines) and autism.
- Thimerosal has been removed as a preservative from most vaccines recommended for infants.
- Scientists are often careful in presenting their conclusions, and the lack of evidence does not prove a negative.
- The insistence on a link between vaccines and autism takes resources away from studying actual causes and treatments.
- Dr. Bob Sears, a pediatrician, offers alternative vaccine schedules, but admits they are not based on scientific research.
- Children receive fewer antigens in vaccines compared to the foreign antigens they encounter daily.
- The video concludes that there is no published, peer-reviewed evidence supporting the idea of vaccine overload.
- The speaker criticizes Dr. Bob Sears for prioritizing parental comfort over the prevention of deadly diseases.

- Vaccines do not cause autism, except in rare cases
- Spacing out vaccines puts children at risk of developing dangerous diseases
- Herd immunity is important for preventing the spread of diseases like measles
- Decreased herd immunity in France led to a measles outbreak with thousands of cases and several deaths
- Vaccinating helps protect vulnerable individuals, such as those with weakened immune systems
- The risks of severe side effects from vaccines are extremely low
- Vaccines have greatly reduced the occurrence of major epidemics in the industrialized world
- Scary vaccine stories should be approached with caution, as parenthood is inherently terrifying
- The author's personal experience and decision to vaccinate their own child on schedule is offered as reassurance

- Vaccines have saved many lives but there is skepticism and fear surrounding them
- Some parents have gone to extreme measures to avoid vaccinating their children
- The fear of vaccines is often linked to autism, despite scientific studies debunking this claim
- Figures like Andrew Wakefield and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. continue to raise concerns about vaccines
- Some people argue for "safe vaccines" due to concerns about ingredients like thimerosal
- The rise in unvaccinated children has led to outbreaks of diseases like measles in certain communities
- The video debunks the misconception that vaccines cause autism using humor and sarcasm
- Multiple studies have found no link between thimerosal (used in vaccines) and autism
- Alternative vaccine schedules offered by Dr. Bob Sears are not based on scientific research
- Vaccines do not cause autism except in rare cases
- Spacing out vaccines puts children at risk of dangerous diseases
- Herd immunity is important for preventing the spread of diseases
- Vaccination helps protect vulnerable individuals with weakened immune systems
- The risks of severe side effects from vaccines are extremely low
- Vaccines have greatly reduced major epidemics in the industrialized world
- Scary vaccine stories should be approached with caution
- The author's personal experience and decision to vaccinate their own child on schedule is offered as reassurance.

The benefits of vaccines far outweigh the minuscule risks, but some parents still question their safety. John Oliver discusses why some people may still feel uncertainty about childhood vaccinations.

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Or as the fun doctor at your family practice puts it, shot, shot, shot, shot, shot, shot, shot, shot, shot, shot, shot.

-♪♪ Now, vaccines are 1 of humanity's most incredible accomplishments, and they've saved millions of lives.

And there was a time when a new 1 was a cause for huge celebration.

Doctor Jonas Salk discovers a vaccine that promises to wipe out childhood's crippling and killing enemy, polio.

Anxious parents are thrilled and grateful, responding to 1 of the greatest mass inoculations in medical annals.

People lined up for the polio shot like it was an iPhone.

Although, for the record, polio was never childhood's most crippling enemy, because that was, and will forever remain, accidentally seeing your father's penis.

Despite their success, Small groups are both skeptical and vocal about vaccines, which is nothing new.

But these days, their voice has been amplified by the human megaphone that is the President of the United States.

I am totally in favor of vaccines, but I want smaller doses over a longer period of time.

Because you take a baby in, and I've seen it.

And I've seen it, and I had my children taking care of over a long period of time, over a 2 or 3 year period of time, same exact amount.

But you take this little beautiful baby, and you pump, I mean, it looks just like it's meant for a horse, not for a child.

That is Donald Trump on the campaign trail raising doubts about vaccinations, and that is a sentiment that he's also expressed online with a tweet reading, -"Tiny children are not horses." -$1.50.

And that is an assertion that Politifact writes, yeah, I mean, I guess technically, we've got to give him that, but good grief.

It is not wise to take health care advice from a man who has willingly sought care from this doctor, who looks like he sneaks into a Senor Frogs in the middle of the night to fox the mozzarella sticks.

But it is not just Trump who is skeptical.

And those concerns have driven some people to extremes.

For instance, back in 2011, some parents made headlines by taking what they saw as a more natural route to immunizing their children.

Catherine, we're talking about parents who are taking used lollipops, saliva, and pus-soaked clothing from complete strangers and deliberately infecting their children.

So, setting aside the grossness of parents infecting their kids with lollipops from strangers, That graphic has an unfortunate misspelling because swapping spit and passing puss...

-...that Kid Rock would give his teenage son.

Look, bro, I know you're gonna want to swap some spit and pass some puss.

But if you don't throw a raincoat on that devil dog, it's gonna be Scorch City for you, buckaroo.

And while it is important to remember that the vast majority of parents are making sure that their children get vaccinated on time.

Any Internet search about vaccines will quickly lead you down a frightening rabbit hole.

And the background hum of doubt can make some parents understandably nervous.

So I'm kind of debating whether I will do them, but

There's just so much information there and I don't know who to ask.

I don't know if there's, you know, there's no such thing as an unbiased source.

At least 10 percent of parents delay or skip some shots.

Right, and you know, parents get so much information, it is hard to know what to do.

And the answers to those, by the way, are yes, no, and absolutely, because the more they cry now, the more they'll be prepared to watch This Is Us when they get older.

is us, this is us, this is us, this is us.

And this, this atmosphere of confusion about vaccines has caused real problems.

There are now 11 states where the number of unvaccinated kids is on the rise.

And in small pockets all over America, the numbers can get startlingly high.

In the Somali community in Minnesota, the measles vaccination rate for children dropped to just 42 percent.

And that had some very real consequences.

Measles, once eradicated in the U.S., is now exploding in Minnesota's Somali community, where many parents won't vaccinate.

that if you're exposed to it and you don't have the vaccine, there's a 90% chance you'll contract it.

And so, we wouldn't vaccinate if this was just a rashy illness.

In that community, the number of measles cases so far this year has already outpaced the total number in all the U.S.

And that is terrible, because the only thing Minnesota should have more of than any other state is Garrison's Keeler and people disappointed by the Mall of America.

Oh, so it's just a bigger mall and it has 2 Build-A-Bear workshops.

This memory will last me a lifetime, as will these 2 bears from 2 different Build-A-Bear workshops.

So, so tonight, we are going to look at why these fears persist and what the consequences of succumbing to them can be.

And before we start, I kind of get why vaccines can creep people out.

Vaccination can mean getting injected by a needle filled with science juice.

Although, pretty much every medical practice sounds terrifying when you break it down like that.

And appendectomy means removing 1 of your organs through stabbery.

Antibiotics are poisons used to murder things living in you, and even exercise means forcefully burning up your insides.

My point is, the human body is a true carnival of horrors, and frankly, I'm embarrassed to have 1.

-♪ ♪ -♪ ♪ And much of the fear surrounding vaccines stems from their supposed link to autism.

Now, that is a theory that gained traction in the late 90s thanks to a study published in the medical journal The Lancet, suggesting a link between autism and the MMR vaccine.

The study was of just 12 children, and it was by this guy, Andrew Wakefield.

And if you're wondering why I didn't say, Dr.

Follow-up studies of hundreds of thousands of children could not find any evidence that the MMR vaccine causes autism.

And investigations into Wakefield's original paper revealed he distorted the data and acted unethically.

He's lost his medical license, the Lancet paper has been retracted.

It's true, Wakefield made a big splash before having his legacy tarnished and his title revoked.

He's basically the Lance Armstrong of doctors.

But even though Wakefield's conclusions have been debunked many times, he not only denies wrongdoing, he actually still gives talks about the supposed dangers of the MMR vaccine.

In fact, this is him in 2011, talking to the Somali community that we saw earlier in Minnesota.

And presumably, ending his speech with, -"Trust me, I'm a used-to-be-a-doctor." -$TRUST ME, I'M A USED-TO-BE-A-DOCTOR.

And to be fair, Whitefield is not the only voice raising alarms about vaccines.

He has company from across the political spectrum.

On the left, to Alex Jones, wherever the fuck he fits in, to even this guy.

You can't make, You can't make people do procedures that they don't want.

The parents have to be the ones who make the decisions for what's best for my...

That is Rob Schneider performing an impromptu rendition of his famous character, The Annoying Guy Who Is Wrong.

Because despite his misunderstanding of, among other things, what the Nuremberg Laws are, and what constitutes acceptable headwear for a grown man, Schneider has spoken out against mandatory vaccines for years, even once calling this California State Assemblywoman to debate the issue, prompting her to post on Facebook, "'Let's be honest, that is 20 minutes of my life I'll never get back,' arguing that vaccines don't cause autism with Deuce Bigelow male gigolo.

It's funny, but, you know, hold on, lady.

Let's not sully the good name of Deuce Bigelow just because of something that his portrayer Rob Schneider said.

That's like implying William Wallace doesn't trust Jews, or Officer Nordberg is a murderer.

Now, the good news is, these days, very few people will say they are completely anti-vaccine.

Instead, like the president, they'll say, I'm not anti-vaccine, but...

And it's what comes after that but that we need to look at tonight.

Because 1 example is, hey, I'm not anti-vaccine, but I am pro-safe vaccine.

And that can often refer to concern over scary-sounding ingredients like thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative.

In fact, just this year, he gave a speech where he said this.

For 33 years, I've been working to get mercury out of fish.

And because I want mercury out of vaccines, I should not be called anti-vaccine.

Okay, well, for a start, why would anyone be ashamed to be called anti-fish?

And while you're at it, what about this dimwit?

I'm pretty sure this dunce didn't make it past the third grade.

And I think we can all agree that this doofus isn't exactly curing cancer.

And that's because after 500 million years, you still haven't figured out how to breathe air.

More importantly, in fact, much more importantly, it is worth knowing that the mercury that has been used in vaccines is not the same kind that is harmful in fish.

On top of which, as with the MMR vaccine, there have been multiple large studies finding no link between thimerosal and autism.

And perhaps most importantly of all, since the early 2000s, as a precautionary measure, it has been removed as a preservative from all vaccines recommended for infants, except for the flu vaccines.

And even there, thimerosal-free versions are available.

So, we essentially spent time and energy solving a problem that never existed.

It's like spending years fighting to get marshmallows out of Lucky Charms, because a few people think minions can choke to death on them.

--LAUGHTER --For a start, marshmallows dissolve and minions don't exist, and if they did, I would want them to choke to death because those little fuckers will murder us.

And look, if you're thinking, well, hold on, hold on.

If it wasn't harmful, why was it taken out?

Well, there was intense public concern that was amplified by people like then Congressman Dan Burton making arguments like this.

I have not yet defined any scientist who will say that there's no doubt, no doubt that the mercury in vaccines does not contribute to autism.

Now, they'll say there's no scientific evidence, there's no studies or anything that proves that yet, but turn that around.

There are no studies that disprove it either.

Proving a negative is an impossible standard.

And that is also a slippery slope, because it means that I can say to you, you, Dan Burton, are a donkey fucker.

You dress up donkeys in cheerleader outfits, and you fuck them.

It's what you're into, and you do it all the time.

And you will say to me, well, wait, There is absolutely no evidence of me doing that, but I would say, turn that around.

There's no evidence of you not doing that either.

This is not a road that you want to go down.

And The thing is, the thing is, that donkey fucker's remarks actually get at why scientists can be at a real disadvantage in this debate, because they, by their nature, are careful in how they present their conclusions.

Science and English are not really the same language.

And so, when a scientist says, we have no evidence that there's a link between vaccines and autism, what they're really saying is, we are as positive as someone can humanly be, that there's no link.

And 1 thing that I sometimes do when I'm talking to parents is say, I'm as confident that there's no link between vaccines and autism as I am that if I was gonna walk off this building, that I would not be able to

And that is about as clear as you can be.

And for the record, if your doctor does believe they can fly, run, because they are either crazy or they are R.

Kelly, vaccines are actually the least of your problems there?

And I know that some will say that the real problem is that scientists are being paid by pharma companies to hide the problems with vaccines.

You can find countless memes online about how the whole system is corrupt.

Some of which feature a very smart-looking cat.

And I'm not saying that there are not problems with Big Pharma, there absolutely are.

We have discussed them before on this show.

But on the rare occasions where there have been issues with vaccines, they have been pulled and fast.

And I know that that explanation will still not satisfy some.

There are gonna be some truly toxic comments below this video, alongside the usual ones about how I look like an owl who can't get a date for prom.

Or that I probably live alone, surrounded by jars I'm too weak to open by myself.

And those comments will link to the hidden truths about vaccines and demand to know why I didn't look into them.

And the problem is, I could go point by point by point and be talking for hours tonight, and this will still never end.

And I kind of get the insistence that there must be a link.

The age children are supposed to get the MMR vaccine happens to be the same age that diagnosable signs of autism can begin to appear.

And remember, they are really clear that link is not there.

And the problem with spending more and more time and money trying to prove that link is that it takes resources away from studying actual causes and treatments.

Just listen to the mother of 1 child with autism who started a foundation precisely because she wanted to find out the causes.

I think we were right to look at whether vaccines might be a cause of autism, but there comes a point where there's so much evidence, none of which shows any link between vaccines and autism, that you have to say, enough.

It's like that Einstein quote you sometimes see on the Internet.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

Except Einstein didn't say that because, and it seems I cannot stress this enough, memes aren't facts.

And if you won't take that from me, take it from this very smart-looking cat.

But again, that hum of doubt, it's hard to shake off.

And some parents agree with the president.

And they favor hedging their bets and skipping or spacing vaccines out just in case.

Ninety-three percent of pediatricians say they've been asked by parents to do just that.

And 1 of the places that that idea may be coming from is a pediatrician named Dr.

Not Bill Sears, the famous doctor and author, but his son, Bob Sears.

Bob has made a name for himself with what can seem like a sensible sounding approach to address worried parents' concerns.

What I've put together is what I call my alternative vaccine schedule.

It's a way to get a baby fully vaccinated, but in a manner that spreads the shots out a little bit.

And that sounds like a decent compromise, because it's the middle ground position, right?

The problem is, it's the middle ground between sense and nonsense.

It's like saying, it would be crazy to eat that entire bar of soap, so I'll just eat half of it.

Now, the enthusiasm for spacing vaccines out stems from some parents' belief that children these days get too many shots too soon.

Perhaps best summed up by this meme of a doll full of needles.

And I will say, if that's how they were given, I would oppose that.

But let's break that fear down, because while it is true that children do receive more shots than they used to, the number of antigens in those shots, or the substances that induce the immune response, has greatly decreased.

And it's a drop in the ocean compared to the thousands of foreign antigens a child usually encounters every day.

Just watch a child for 5 minutes and see if they don't eat their friend's boogers, put their entire mouth over the water fountain, or try and kiss a raccoon they just found in a dumpster while playing hide and seek.

My point is, children are fucking disgusting.

And even Sears himself has admitted that his approach is not based on scientific research.

peer-reviewed evidence to support the notion of a, quote, overload if you follow the CDC recommended schedule.

Chris, I don't think there is any such research and I actually never claimed there was.

I certainly have put out there very clearly in my writings that my precautions on spreading out vaccines are theoretical.

It's a theoretical benefit to kids, and it's a choice that I think a lot of parents feel more comfortable about, and might actually bring more parents to vaccinate if they can spread the shots out more than the regular schedule.

Except your job is to make sure children don't get deadly diseases, not to make parents comfortable.

Because you're a pediatrician, not a flask of whiskey tucked into a baby bjorn.

Bob sometimes seems to be trying to have it both ways, because while he says he is pro-vaccine, and that he doesn't explicitly tell parents to skip or delay important shots, his book just happens to include an alternative vaccine schedule and a selective vaccine schedule.

And on that 1, you can get vaccinated for measles as late as 10 years old.

And on top of that, every once in a while, he'll drop a line like this.

You know, my, my statement I like to make on vaccines and autism is that vaccines don't cause autism except when they do.

And I know that sounds like equivocating bullshit, but don't worry.

Opportunistic quacks writing books that fan the flames of people's unfounded fears don't cause a legitimate public health hazard, except when they do.

Are, as he says, theoretical, The dangers of spacing vaccines out are very real.

The CDC says spreading shots out puts children at risk of developing diseases during the time that shots are delayed.

And some of those diseases are dangerous.

Measles alone was responsible for over 130,000 deaths worldwide in 2015.

Partly because it is ridiculously infectious.

I'm talking Happy by Pharrell infectious.

I just said that and it's already stuck in your head now.

And 1 way we can keep measles at bay is through something called herd immunity.

That is the concept whereby the more people who are vaccinated, the harder it is for a disease to spread.

But the margin for safety there is a lot smaller than you may think.

Most experts say that the herd immunity threshold for measles is around 95%.

But when in France that dropped to 89% a few years back, This is what happened.

In 2007, there were around 40 cases of measles across France.

Then, in 2008, a 10-year-old girl returned from holiday in Austria.

She went back to school and played with some friends.

Several days later, the girls became ill.

The measles infection spread from district to district, infecting the susceptible population.

Okay, so that clip proves 2 things to us.

1, a decrease in herd immunity can have devastating consequences.

And 2, anything is terrifying if you play children singing Frère Jacques underneath it.

Just look at what happens when you add that music underneath this stock footage that we found.

Frère Jacques, Frère Jacques -♪ Frère Jacques, sans me faire...

There is no way that those kids are not about to be decapitated by a stop sign.

-♪ De me sacre, de me sacre, sans me faux.

♪ -♪ De me sacre, de me sacre, sans me faux.

♪ And if you're thinking, well, you know, that is a chance that I'm willing to take, and I'm just making this choice for my child.

You're putting at risk kids like Rhett Crowett.

He was diagnosed with leukemia at age 2, and his immune system was weakened so much he couldn't be vaccinated.

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