If Social Media Had Existed...

 ...in the days of smallpox and polio, we'd still be swimming in smallpox & polio.  The deadly, disfiguring effects of the variola virus and the crippling poliomyelitis that landed so many in wheelchairs & iron lung machines would've been viewed as "a safer bet" than the vaccines that prevented them due to the same upsidedown world disinformation that's keeping people from taking the COVID vaccine now--the very disinformation that's resulted in the loss of over a million American lives since 2020.  

Click pics to make large...

Child with smallpox

Man with smallpox

Unvaccinated vs. vaccinated child

Children with polio in iron lung

Effects of poliomyelitis on leg

Girl with polio celebrates vaccine... even though it's too late for her :(

After 3000 years of human carnage, smallpox was eradicated via vaccines by 1980 while polio was nearly wiped off the face of the planet--sporadic cases still pop up from time to time but in no way is it the threat it was in its heyday.  Meanwhile the vaccine rollouts were far from sophisticated.  The first smallpox vaccine was made from the pus of a sore from a milkmaid with cowpox--a related virus.  (Imagine how the guy receiving that jab must've felt).  In the case of polio, a bad batch of Jonas Salk's vaccine produced by a company called Cutter Laboratories contained live virus & actually caused polio in a few patients, resulting in 11 deaths.  Thus began a "war" between himself & Albert Sabin over which type of vaccine was safer & more effective. 

But even in the midst of this drama, the lay public understood that the risks of the vaccines were still far lower than taking their chances with the crippling virus & lined up by the millions to take their shots.  The results speak for themselves.

Woodbury Avenue (NY) students line up for polio shot in the 1950's

Since that time, vaccines have only increased in safety & effectiveness while public distrust has sadly grown out of control as a result of disinformation that started around the turn of the millennium thanks to the rise of the internet & Andrew Wakefield's "MMR vaccines cause autism" campaign.  Despite being widely disproven to the point his paper was fully retracted from medical journals, the damage was done:  measles, which was on the verge of being eradicated in the U.S. in 2000, has made a comeback.  And it's not the only disease.  Government health agencies have never attempted to hide or downplay the historical failures & risks of vaccines--in fact you can read about them right on the CDC's website.  Yet the public remains suspicious to the point of paranoia about things like microchips, covert gene therapy & blood clots (if I had a quarter for every time I heard the oh-so-clever term "clot shot" I'd be a quarter millionaire).  In reality, COVID itself is far more likely to cause blood clots than any of the vaccines and the other two claims are too psychotic to even acknowledge.  

People often ask what the possible long-term side effects of vaccines might be, as if to imply that we can't possibly know whether a new shot is safe until it's been on the market for many years.  Let me clear that up right now:  No vaccine has EVER been shown to cause side effects that set in months or years after the shot was administered.  That's simply not how any of this works.  After provoking an immune response, vaccine components are excreted via the kidneys and/or liver just like an oral medication or supplement would be.  (Would you blame a new ailment on a single dose of a medication you took one time many months or years ago?)  On the other hand, countless viruses have been proven to cause long-term complications: 

HPV > oral/genital/anal cancers;
HIV > AIDS;
Measles > SSPE;
Chickenpox > Shingles/Ramsay Hunt Syndrome;
Human Herpesvirus-8 > Kaposi's Sarcoma
Epstein-Barr > Oral Hairy Leukoplakia/Burkitt's Lymphoma (Africa)/Nasopharyngeal Cancer (Asia)
Hepatitis B > Liver Cancer;
COVID > Increased Heart Attack/Stroke Risk for 6 months post-infection/Long COVID. 

Asking "what are the long-term risks" is a good question as long as you also ask it about the diseases & not just the vaccines that help prevent them.  

If you're going to have a harmless side effect or a more serious adverse reaction, you can generally expect it within 72 hours of receiving a vaccine.  Taking acetaminophen or an NSAID like ibuprofen immediately after your shot and again before bed, plus avoiding overexertion for the rest of the day can reduce the risk of side effects like soreness, fever & nausea.  Avoiding vaccination while sick with a fever or an acute illness like the flu will help prevent more severe adverse events.  Allergic reactions to ingredients like eggs are the most common and serious complications nowadays--symptoms include trouble breathing, wheezing, hives & throat tightening.  Don't be afraid to share any questions or concerns you have with the person administering the shot, and consult your doctor if you have more serious concerns. 

...your actual doctor.  Not Dr. Drew, Dr. Phil, Dr. Oz or Dr. Pepper.  💉

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COVID patient in 2020 (pre-vaccine era)