It’s disappointing the EW published a letter (“Whooping Cough,” Nov. 15) containing misleading material regarding the safety of vaccines.
Vaccinations are safe and they are necessary to reduce the incidence of illness and death from preventable disease.
Vaccines undergo thorough testing and research by the Food & Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control prior to release. These entities exist to protect us, and ensure compliance with safety regulations. The agencies are forbidden from taking funding from pharmaceutical companies.
Serious allergic or other adverse reactions from vaccines are extremely rare. More common side effects are localized and temporary, including soreness, redness and swelling at the injection site. These may be unpleasant but they are harmless to the overall health of children and adults.
Adverse reactions are tracked through the Vaccination Adverse Event Reporting System. Data is publicly available at vaers.hhs.gov.
A list of current vaccine additives is available from the CDC. None of the additives have proven harmful to animals or humans in the amounts they are given in a vaccine.
The benefits of vaccines have been evident ever since their first use more than 200 years ago. Polio was eliminated in the United States thanks to the introduction of the polio vaccine in 1950. Globally, due to the small pox vaccination, small pox was eradicated in 1980.
Without vaccinations, many people would have suffered life-long illness and disability, or would have died.
My facts are sourced from immunize.org.
Vaccines are safe and help prevent human misery.
Gabriel Wihtol RN, BSN, Eugene
A Note From the Publisher
Dear Readers,
The last two years have been some of the hardest in Eugene Weekly’s 43 years. There were moments when keeping the paper alive felt uncertain. And yet, here we are — still publishing, still investigating, still showing up every week.
That’s because of you!
Not just because of financial support (though that matters enormously), but because of the emails, notes, conversations, encouragement and ideas you shared along the way. You reminded us why this paper exists and who it’s for.
Listening to readers has always been at the heart of Eugene Weekly. This year, that meant launching our popular weekly Activist Alert column, after many of you told us there was no single, reliable place to find information about rallies, meetings and ways to get involved. You asked. We responded.
We’ve also continued to deepen the coverage that sets Eugene Weekly apart, including our in-depth reporting on local real estate development through Bricks & Mortar — digging into what’s being built, who’s behind it and how those decisions shape our community.
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None of this happens by accident. It happens because readers step up and say: this matters.
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Thank you for standing with us!
Publisher
Eugene Weekly
P.S. If you’d like to talk about supporting EW, I’d love to hear from you!
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