Babies are subjected to more challenges to their immune system at birth than they will be in the entire immunization schedule. Keep in mind that the amount of any ingredient in vaccines is very small–smaller than what a child will encounter naturally through living and breathing and eating, and as this study of aluminum in vaccines shows, they do not accumulate in a child’s body to toxic levels.

Babies are subjected to more challenges to their immune system at birth than they will be in the entire immunization schedule. Keep in mind that the amount of any ingredient in vaccines is very small–smaller than what a child will encounter naturally through living and breathing and eating, and as this study of aluminum in vaccines shows, they do not accumulate in a child’s body to toxic levels.

Because millions of children have followed the schedule, scientists have been able to conduct studies showing that the schedule is safe.

Also, plenty of evidence tells us that vaccines do not cause autism. Not only do the studies done so far show vaccines are not in any way linked to autism, but some studies show disorganization of the prefrontal cortex in the brains of autistic people. Think of the prefrontal cortex as the brain’s control center, located right behind your forehead. It helps people plan, solve problems, pay attention, and understand social cues. In many autistic people, researchers have noticed that the nerve cells in this area aren’t lined up and connected in the usual, orderly way: they’re arranged differently. This difference in wiring can change how signals travel through the control center, which may explain why autistic individuals often process information, handle emotions, or switch between tasks in unique ways.

Because these nerve cells are arranged before birth, this finding links autism to development that takes place in the womb. Of all the risk factors for developing autism, we know genetics looks the most likely, and being vaccinated is not among them.

This week, Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo has claimed mRNA COVID vaccines are unsafe and “not fit for human use.” Asserting that almost everyone knows someone who was hurt by them, he is telling people to stop getting the shots.

Some COVID vaccines work by using mRNA, a temporary recipe card, to teach your cells how to make a harmless piece of the virus’s spike protein. COVID vaccines are neither gene therapy nor experimental. They were thoroughly tested in large studies and do not change your DNA, as mRNA cannot enter the nucleus of the cell, but instead teach your body how to fight the virus without giving you the illness.

Clinical trials and studies show that these vaccines are safe for children, with serious side effects being extremely rare. However, COVID itself can cause long-term health problems. These complications include the risk of hospitalization and severe outcomes like multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C). While hospitalization rates for COVID are generally lower in children than adults, they are still significant, particularly among young children and infants who have not yet developed robust immune defenses.

Stories like Ethan’s remind us why it’s worth protecting children against the worst effects of COVID.

Stopping mRNA vaccines entirely would leave people at risk for serious illness and death, as these vaccines have already saved millions of lives worldwide. Vaccines are like a safe and temporary training session for your immune system, teaching it how to protect you better in the future.

Ladapo, on the other hand, is accused of committing scientific fraud and manipulating data to claim that the mRNA vaccines increase the risk of cardiac death.

Anti-vaxxers are contradicting a new study, claiming that aluminum in vaccines travels into the brain, sparking inflammation, and that this process can lead to autism, asthma, and other immune or neurological problems.

The Children’s Health Defense article skews what the Danish cohort study shows in several ways:

• First, they claim that researchers only compared kids who got shots with aluminum compared with kids who got “slightly less aluminum, when in reality, the dataset included 15,237 children who received no aluminum vaccines before age 2.
• They also insist that the groups differed by only about 1 mg of aluminum, when the study actually analyzed a full dose‑response span, capturing up to a 4.5‑fold difference in cumulative exposure.
• In the end, the study found that babies who received aluminum from their vaccines in the first two years did not have higher rates of any of the 50 health problems the researchers examined.

Aluminum is used as an adjuvant to boost the immune response, reducing the number of doses needed. Studies have repeatedly shown that the levels of aluminum in vaccines are far below harmful thresholds. The body naturally processes and eliminates small amounts of aluminum found in food, water, and medicines, including vaccines.

Studies show that the body clears most of it quickly through the kidneys. A study published in Vaccine found that the amount of aluminum in vaccines is much smaller than what people are exposed to daily from food and the environment. The aluminum that remains temporarily in the body does not accumulate to harmful levels.