Vaccination awareness highlighted by Sunday programme

Ian Sinclair’s story on this week’s Sunday programme "highlights the importance of New Zealand parents being able to make free and informed decisions about vaccination" says Katherine Smith.

Smith is the spokeswoman for No Forced Vaccines, an organisation set up to oppose coerced or forced vaccinations.

"Most children manage to cope with the routine vaccination schedule without suffering any discernible long term effects," Smith says.  "Unfortunately, as the Sunday programme story vividly illustrated, the health of a small minority of children can be severely damaged by vaccinations."

Cases like that of Brittany Collins who had a severe reaction after being vaccinated against whooping cough and is now brain damaged and confined to a wheelchair, demonstrate the importance of parents being properly informed about the risks of vaccinations so that they can make an informed choice about this medical procedure, Smith says. 

"Unfortunately," Smith says, "While ACC has compensated children because they have suffered terrible vaccine damage, Ministry of Health publications for parents such as the booklet “Immunisation Choices” omits most of the risks of the vaccines that are recommended for New Zealand children.

"I suggest to parents that a good start is to read the manufacturer’s datasheet for any vaccine that they are considering for their children.  These are available on Medsafe’s website and list the adverse effects that may occur within a short time frame following vaccination."

She cautions that longer term adverse effects that are linked to some vaccines, such as autism or diabetes, are not acknowledged by vaccine manufacturers, making it desirable to do further reading and research about controversial topics. 

"It’s important to be discerning when using the internet as a resource for vaccination information. While some sites have excellent quality, well-referenced information, others are factually incorrect or have dubious claims." Bias can also be a problem with certain sites, Smith warns, even those that are maintained by government-funded organisations.

"Currently New Zealand parents have complete freedom of choice regarding vaccinations," Smith says.  "They can choose for their children to have all, some or none of the vaccinations recommended by the Ministry of Health.  Given that it is parents and their children who have to live with the consequences if anything goes horribly wrong after vaccination, this is as it should be."