Talking about the importance of vaccines and how fortunate we’re to be living in a country where they’re readily available. Photo by FileArticle contentToday, I’m putting on my almost-retired nurses’ cap (remember those) and my ol’ granny wisdom and ‘lecturing’ about vaccines as it’s that time of year again. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY.Subscribe now to access this story and more:Unlimited access to the website and appExclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcastsFull access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment onEnjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalistsSupport local journalists and the next generation of journalistsSUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES.Subscribe or sign in to your account to continue your reading experience.Unlimited access to the website and appExclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcastsFull access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment onEnjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalistsSupport local journalists and the next generation of journalistsRegister to unlock more articles.Create an account or sign in to continue your reading experience.Access additional stories every monthShare your thoughts and join the conversation in our commenting communityGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorArticle contentIf you walk through the old section of most graveyards, you will often find headstones with the names of several children from one family who died within a few days, weeks, or months of each other. It may have been diphtheria or influenza epidemic or some such thing. Can you imagine the sadness in that family as so many little ones were laid to rest before they had a chance to live very long? The heartbreak of losing beloved children? Article contentArticle contentArticle contentWe are so lucky that, touch wood, when we have two children, they have a reasonable chance of living a long life. Not too many of us have to bury them young, touch wood again. We are spoiled with access to medical science and good health care, including vaccines, that some people get complacent. They seem to think that organic food and “natural” whatever will keep them safe but, as Neil deGrasse Tyson, the scientist, pointed in a post that I saw on Facebook, the cave people had organic food and natural everything and they were lucky to live until they were 20 or so. People didn’t start living longer until science really progressed in the recent past. Article contentI still have my vaccination record from grade Primary. I would have had it from infancy, but my baby book has gone missing. My mother took us in for any vaccine that was available. People of my generation have little round scars on our upper arms. You couldn’t go to school unless you produced your proof of vaccination. There was no choice in the matter. I remember going to school with a couple of kids who had polio. They had been missed, somehow, in a move, I think. They needed braces and sometimes wheelchairs. Article contentArticle contentWhen I was a kid there weren’t any vaccinations for common childhood illnesses like mumps, measles, and chicken pox. I spent a lot of grade Primary home with some ailment or another. I was so sick and miserable. Mom said that I got whooping cough at nine months old. What a frightening thing for my parents to have to watch. I practically had a seizure at one point. Article contentBy the time my kids were born, there were no more scars on arms. My doctor said that smallpox had been “eradicated from the planet.” The only typical childhood illness that they both got was chicken pox as there wasn’t any vaccine for it at the time. Article contentWhen I was in nurses’ training, we were all lined up for extra vaccinations because you never know what we would be exposed to in our jobs. I’ve had one for tuberculosis and a bunch of others that I can’t even remember the names of. I’ve had ‘flu shots almost every year since they were invented, I think. I’ve had Hepatitis A and B, shingles, pneumovax, and whatever else someone wanted to give me.
Vaccines now and forever
