Neal Cohen isn't holding back on how he feels about child immunizations. The Manitoba dad recently took to Facebook to share his thoughts with "all anti-vaxxers" when he thought his five-month-old daughter had the measles.
On May 28, he wrote: "My infant child contracted a disease that until recently had been virtually eradicated from our society. She is too young to be vaccinated (they get the MMR vaccine at 12 months) and so she is entirely reliant on the people around her to have the good sense to get theirs. It's called herd immunity."
He directly blames those who don't have their children vaccinated for the breakdown in herd immunity: "Your justification of an irresponsible decision is that there are enough people around you being smart that you can afford to be stupid. Unfortunately, your 'movement' has given other stupid people the impression that they should have a choice whether or not to vaccinate their children."
Cohen points out that "92 per cent of doctors in North America are in agreement that the recent 'anti-vax' movement is to blame for the resurgence of diseases like whooping cough and the measles. Nearly 100% of doctors agree that the benefits of vaccination greatly outweigh any risks associated with administration of the vaccines."
He goes on to say "vaccination is not a choice; it is a social responsibility."
The angry dad closes his message harshly with: "So thanks, 'anti-vaxxers.' I hope you get polio."
With more than 29,000 shares, Cohen's post has obviously touched a nerve. Most comments were to wish Cohen's daughter a speedy recovery, but many chimed in on the anti-vax debate.
"People always assume that I'm anti-vaccine and it drives me crazy!!!," wrote Sommer Thome. "I just look at them dead serious and say, 'no, I believe in this thing called SCIENCE!'"
In the comments section, Cohen later discloses that his daughter actually has Roseola, also known as baby measles, which has no vaccine. But he stands by his post: "I've received a number of messages since my original post from parents of children with compromised immune systems due to allergies, chemotherapy, etc. who appreciated the message being circulated. Their children's lives are at risk every day by those who support the ridiculous anti-vaccine argument, so I chose to leave it as is."
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