Laura Helmuth recently resigned as Chief Editor of Scientific American after expressing her outrage online about Trump’s election. I can understand her anger because she knew that Trump would appoint completely unqualified people to take charge of federal agencies overseeing the health of the American people. But I wish she hadn’t expressed it online!
She posted this information on BlueSky about the importance of vaccines:
The measles vaccine has saved 94 million lives over the past 50 years, and it plus vaccines against 13 other pathogens have cut infant mortality by 40 percent and saved 154 million lives.
154 MILLION LIVES 🧪
Anti-vaxxer RFKJ is a menace to global health
If RFK Jr. has his way, vaccines will be voluntary. Among the unvaccinated, disease will run rampant. Even the vaccinated may be at risk. It will be dangerous to attend public events or go anywhere that is crowded.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I think it’s already dangerous to attend public events or go anywhere that’s crowded because mass shootings are so increasingly common. Whenever I go anywhere, I ask myself if it is worth the risk of possibly getting shot over. I’ve also instructed my family that if I’m ever the victim of gun violence, they are to release photos of my unwashed body (blood and all) so people can see what such violence actually looks like (not that it would matter to people these days…). But yeah, the increase of unvaccinated people will just make matters even worse. But that probably won’t matter either unless it becomes bad for business with low ticket sales, etc.
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I like the “red flag” on the porch idea. Maybe the unvaccinated would have a red flag tattooed on their foreheads . . . just a thought. CBK
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CBK, good idea!
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Diane: I’m getting new wrinkles under my eyes from wincing every time I turn on the news. I was also thinking that, unfortunately, Trump won’t run out of political ignoramuses and echo-chamber television personalities to choose from for his appointments any time soon. CBK
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CBK, he hasn’t chosen anyone yet from the Weather Channel or the Cooking channel.
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The red flag on the porch might also signify there’s an iron lung in the house when polio makes a comeback.
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Joe, there would have to be flags for every communicable disease.
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That’s a good point Dr. Ravitch. I was just trying to emphasize that these anti-vax folks are going to end up with kids getting polio if they’re not careful.
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You are right! I didn’t disagree.
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During the AIDS outbreak, Cuba placed anyone with HIV in a camp away from the general population. I am not recommending, simply noting it was how Cuba curbed the spread of HIV during a health crisis.
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Cuba rounded up gays and put them in camps. Not sure if all had AIDS. There is a beautiful book about the camps and life in Castro’s Cuba by Reinaldo Arenas, “Before Night Falls.”
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I’ll say it again–Sadly, we will have to hit rock bottom where everything goes to hell & the masses suffer much more than the slow & small drip, drip of suffering over the past 40 years since the Reagan years. I am happy that Republicans have control of all 3 branches, because when it all gets to the maximum suffering of the majority of Americans, there will be no one to blame but the Republicans and the now entrenched Oligarchy. Only then will the masses (possibly) unite & decide to fight against the big money that now controls every aspect of our lives from local & national political offices to our education system to Social Media. I guess it’s just human nature that change does not happen until people hit rock bottom. Let’s see what happens over the next 4 years.
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When you reach rock bottom, there is more than one path ahead.
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when anti-vax critics get done, science will appear morally bankrupt to the true believers. It will take two generations to undo the harm.
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Roy,
Yes. People will get to choose whether or not to follow directives based on science. Diseases conquered long ago will return.
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