Merrilee Heard

As a child, my dad was an anti-vaxxer. I was born in the 1950's so it was pretty uncommon for parents to choose not to have their kids vaccinated. There had been some deaths due to a manufacturing issue with the polio vaccine and that was enough for my dad! Even though this issue was fixed promptly and led to major reforms: https://www.gavi.org/vaccineswork/book-club/review-cutter-incident-paul-offit We caught almost everything our peers were vaccinated for, with the exception of polio. I remember having whooping cough. It was almost impossible to get in a breath of air and it was painful!! I still have problems with getting both bronchitis and pneumonia, which the doctor attributes to having had whooping cough. As soon as I moved out, I went to our local health clinic and had EVERY vaccine available, including smallpox. When I had my children, you can bet I made sure they were always up to date on vaccinations! I NEVER wanted my kids to go through the horror that my 7 siblings and I had! When Covid came out, I was almost first in line to get vaccinated. With close friends who are unable to be vaccinated, herd immunity is the only way we can protect the vulnerable!