Summary

Donald Trump plans to discuss potentially ending childhood vaccination programs with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., his nominee for Health and Human Services.

Trump expressed openness to revisiting vaccine policies, citing concerns about autism rates, despite scientific consensus debunking links between vaccines and autism.

Critics warn reducing vaccinations could lead to outbreaks of preventable diseases like measles.

Kennedy, known for questioning vaccine safety, would oversee the CDC if confirmed.

Public health experts remain concerned about the implications.

  • gift_of_gab@lemmy.world
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    6 days ago

    Wow, the measles are going to absolutely ruin America, and then spread to the world. One of my family members was ‘immune’ to the vaccine for it, and a doctor took my aunt aside and told her that basically any large crowd was a danger to my cousin. IE. “Go to the fair and there’s a chance he catches it.” Luckily he was able to finally reach the % required that from the vaccine but I think he was 16 before that happened.

    So many children are going to die. I wonder if people who didn’t vote in the US are starting to realise what they’ve done.

    • CeeBee_Eh@lemmy.world
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      6 days ago

      and then spread to the world

      But the rest of the world still has the vaccine programs. Very quickly Americans will require proof of vaccination before visiting other countries. While there might be an uptick in cases outside of the US, it will be nothing compared to within.

      • gift_of_gab@lemmy.world
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        6 days ago

        We’re already having a problem with it in Canada, so I’m pretty damn nervous. I have family members who really rely on herd immunity.

        • CeeBee_Eh@lemmy.world
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          6 days ago

          Ya, I’m in Canada also. And unfortunately I know more than a couple of people who legit believe vaccines are a scam. But you can find idiots everywhere. I’m honestly not too worried about it here.

          • gift_of_gab@lemmy.world
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            5 days ago

            The issue is, especially for measles, herd immunity. There are some major problems with measles in particular, such as:

            Measles is so contagious that one infected person can spread the respiratory virus to 90% of people in the same room—and it can live in the air for two hours. Often, an infected person doesn’t even know they have measles for several weeks.

            and

            Early symptoms include a fever, cough, runny nose, and red eyes, all of which could be overlooked as part of a common cold. A skin rash doesn’t typically appear until three to five days after the first symptoms appear. Someone with measles is contagious four days before the rash begins and four days after. There is no cure for measles, but if you’ve received the measles vaccine or are immune from a previous infection, consider yourself protected.

            Another major problem is…:

            Depending on the disease, herd immunity may begin to show beneficial effects when just 40% of the population is vaccinated. But for particularly contagious diseases, that threshold is far higher, exceeding 80%. The vaccination rate should be about 96% to achieve herd immunity for measles.

            So we’re going to have immune compromised people getting and then spreading measels. It hits children the hardest, and we’re going to start seeing absolutely heart-breaking headlines about children dying to a completely preventable illness.

            • CeeBee_Eh@lemmy.world
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              5 days ago

              Oh, I don’t disagree. Measles is horrible. It’s even been found to reset a person’s immune system. Like erased to newborn status.

              But what I mean about not being too worried, is that I have a modicum amount of faith in fellow Canadians. And once those insane policies start happening in the US, the entire rest of the world is going to place travel restrictions to/from the US.

              • gift_of_gab@lemmy.world
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                5 days ago

                But what I mean about not being too worried, is that I have a modicum amount of faith in fellow Canadians.

                I’m glad you do, and I don’t. If, as polls show he should rather easily, Poilievre wins the next election we’ll have a Prime Minister who marched with the Convoy. In addition, the Federal Conservative party voted in 2022 to not recognize climate change. The idea he’ll place restrictions down is, to my mind, flat out wrong. I think he’ll bow and kowtow to whatever Trump says, and from the amount of ‘Make Canada Great Again’ hats (And the full on MAGA ones as well, which is… bizarre) I see throughout the interior of BC/Alberta, I think there’s some serious indicators the voters will, too. John Rustad almost beat the BC NDP. Polls show 43% of voters in Ontario plan to vote for Doug Ford again.

                I am glad you have faith in Canadians, I just don’t understand where that faith comes from.

                • CeeBee_Eh@lemmy.world
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                  5 days ago

                  I am glad you have faith in Canadians, I just don’t understand where that faith comes from.

                  Mostly from interacting quite a bit with Americans and seeing how much better Canada is by comparison. Don’t get me wrong, things are tending down, but we’ve got quite a ways to go before we get that bad.

  • madcaesar@lemmy.world
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    7 days ago

    Yes it must be the vaccines that are causing autism rates! Ignore the studies and decades of evidence that show they don’t, because they definitely do!

    It’s not all the micro plastic pollution, or car pollution, or chemicals in our water, or hormones in our food, no it’s definitely the vaccines!

    • This message is brought to you by Karen and Cletus
      • medgremlin@midwest.social
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        6 days ago

        I came here to say this. We’re just getting a lot better at recognizing it earlier to try to jump on getting the kiddos into therapy to limit the impact on their life as adults.

        • Vashti@feddit.uk
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          My dad was born in the 30s, and was just as autistic as me. His mother (born 1910) died when I was little, but I remember her being eccentric, and my mother called her “difficult”. They both lived perfectly normal lives, they were just very different from the others around them. I’m autistic and so is my nephew; that’s four generations, spanning a century.

          We have always been here.

    • NotAnOnionAtAll@feddit.org
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      5 days ago

      Even if there was anything real about the claim that vaccinations increased autism rates, using that as a justification to stop vaccinations would still be a crazy stance. Autism is not a deadly disease, but many of the things we vaccinate against are.

      • CeeBee_Eh@lemmy.world
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        6 days ago

        It, like ADHD, has a strong genetic component, but it’s not a 1:1 correlation.

        Epigenetics likely play a massive role also. Which might be the genetic correlation we’re seeing. Epigenetic influences have been shown to last multiple generations from the original trigger (specifically with the effects of trauma).

        In the case of autism and ADHD, the epigenetic triggers are likely environmental, such as microplastics, over usage of antibiotics, and various toxic chemicals we’re exposed to daily.

        My own personal theory is that the current rates of autism and ADHD might be affected (but not solely caused by) the use of lead in gasoline 50+ years ago. Lead exposure has lifelong implications and absolutely affects embryos as they’re developing. But that’s just a personal theory.

        Edit: Holy hell! This popped up on my Google News Feed only hours after making this comment.

        https://scitechdaily.com/born-before-1996-according-to-scientists-leaded-gas-may-have-permanently-altered-your-personality/

    • rational_lib@lemmy.world
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      7 days ago

      It’s been anticipated throughout the campaign, but kind of got overshadowed by all the other horrible stuff about Trump. RFK Jr. is the biggest anti-vaxxer in the world. Trump ran with him openly to get his cult on his side. This is the obvious result.

      • Tinidril@midwest.social
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        7 days ago

        It seems like every horrible thing about Trump never gets any attention because of the other horrible things about Trump.

  • K3zi4@lemmy.world
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    7 days ago

    Pro-life crowd really trying to murder as many children as they can. That’s crazy. Good luck America.

  • jagged_circle@feddit.nl
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    7 days ago

    If vaccine requirements go away, this is bad

    If vaccines become illegal or prohibitively expensive, this is a disaster

  • sunbytes@lemmy.world
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    4 days ago

    Suddenly it’s an elective procedure and no longer covered by insurance.

    Though I guess it may get more expensive for insurers to cover the unvaccinated so the market might actually win out with that one…

  • mired_sight@lemmynsfw.com
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    6 days ago

    So, what do we DO? Quick vacations abroad to get vaccines and prevent our kids from dying? Or just accept life as long as possible before the 2027 polio outbreak causes a lovely descent into chaos?

    • WhatSay@slrpnk.net
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      6 days ago

      Much like women seeking health care across state lines, it may be required to travel to another state for vaccinations, and depending on supply and cost, perhaps traveling to another country would be practical.

      As for outbreaks, either wear a mask and avoid crowds, or have a passport and find a country not embracing insanity.

      • mired_sight@lemmynsfw.com
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        5 days ago

        … have a passport and find a country not embracing insanity.

        I can’t imagine any country is super excited for American refugees

        • WhatSay@slrpnk.net
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          5 days ago

          Yeah, most of the world has decided they don’t like refugees. Best bet is probably to pretend to be a tourist.

  • Treczoks@lemmy.world
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    5 days ago

    Many nearly extinct diseases are already planning their great comeback tour in the US.

    Wonder what will happen when the rest of the world denies entry to Americans for health reasons.

  • ThomasCrappersGhost@feddit.uk
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    5 days ago

    So RFKs gonna say “vaccinations bad”, and Trumps gonna be like “thanks for letting me know mate”, then cancel vaccinations…. And then the shit really will hit the fan.

  • mightyfoolish@lemmy.world
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    6 days ago

    I guess Trump wants to eradicate the American population? How does this make them money?

    A new period of prohibition begins. How do I buy vaccines illegally?

    • ZILtoid1991@lemmy.world
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      5 days ago

      Likely Elon Musk and some other people are covert eugenicists. A lot of eugenicists work with Lysenko-style “genetics”, and think generations surviving deadly diseases will bring forward a smarter and stronger humanity,

    • hovercat@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      6 days ago

      Well, if America is no longer a superpower, then Putin and all his oligarchs buddies are planning on sweeping up the spoils of its ruin for themselves.