I was disappointed to see the Thursday Dispatch article “Robert F. Kennedy Jr., 120 others at Statehouse blast vaccinations.” The article failed to mention that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is an environmental lawyer, not a health care professional. He has no training in medicine, public health or vaccines. There is no debate among the medical community: Vaccines are safe and effective at preventing deadly diseases.
In recent years, Ohio has experienced outbreaks of many vaccine-preventable diseases — measles, mumps, pertussis and hepatitis A — likely from poor vaccine uptake. Further, the United States is currently experiencing its highest number of measles cases in more than 25 years, centered in communities with low vaccination rates. Prior to this, measles was eliminated from the United States in 2000. Vaccines work.
Kennedy claims that the U.S. has “the most aggressive vaccine schedule in the world, and we have the sickest children in the developed world.” This is simply not true. Many Asian and European countries have similar vaccine schedules, and some give more vaccines for diseases like tuberculosis and Japanese encephalitis. Studies looking at hundreds of thousands of children have shown that vaccines do not cause autism or other chronic illnesses. Vaccines are safe.
The Dispatch contributes to false balance by reporting Kennedy’s anti-vaccine views. The evidence is clear — vaccines save lives.
Daniel Freedman, D.O., Columbus
– #AntiVaxxer –
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