Vaccines have eradicated dangerous diseases and prevented epidemics. However, to promote vaccination and achieve herd immunity, much of the relevant information remains silenced. Statistics indicate that certain vaccines can cause irreversible damage in a small number of cases. But what would happen if your child was the case within that tiny amount? If informed consent is an unquestionable part of medical ethics, why is certain data regarding vaccines being overlooked? Do you know what vaccines are made of, how they are preserved and what substances are used as adjuvants? Do you know what conditions can trigger severe post-vaccination damage? The issue exceeds the dichotomy of Public Health versus individual rights, or pro-vaccines versus anti-vaccines, and encompasses important economic and political variables. Since the figures show that the vaccine segment is one of the most profitable in the pharmaceutical business, it should be remembered that vaccination is a medical intervention and of course can prevent diseases, but it also has the potential to harm.

Catherine Dumont is an author and historian. Named as Distinguished Professor of American Studies and History, her research interests include the construction of racial identity and class structures.

Controversies for and againstPublic Health versus Individual RightsHow do vaccines work?Questioned ingredients in vaccine productionBrief journey through the history of vaccinesTodays anti-vaccinesThe isolation practice that saved the first "anti-vaccines"The "retracted" investigation against the MMR vaccineAutism unleashed by vaccines, the poorly studied gastrointestinal factorHPV: An example of the pharmaceutical business associated with vaccinesWhat is the US Vaccine Injury Compensation Program?Heard immunity and the 2019 measles outbreakPotential Dangers of Meningococcal VaccineDoes collective immunity justify permanent impairment for a few?