This piece originally appeared as a letter to the editor in our local paper, the Star Democrat.
Walking through the Christ Church Episcopal Cemetery in the heart of St. Michaels, you might notice something that we don’t see very often: tiny tombstones. A daughter who lived two weeks before passing in 1901. A brother and sister, neither of whom made it to their first birthday. Three-year-olds, nine-year-olds, eleven-year-olds. For most of human history, high rates of infant and childhood mortality was a fact of life.
There is one specific reason why we don’t see tiny tombstones in modern cemeteries: vaccines.
In 1938, Max Theiler developed the first yellow fever vaccine. In 1939, Pearl Kendrick and Grace Eldering proved the effectiveness of the pertussis vaccine. In 1945, Jonas Salk developed the first influenza vaccine and then set his sights on Polio in the 1950s. Salk tested his first Polio vaccine on himself. In 1961, John Enders developed a measles vaccine that was 100% effective. In 1967, the World Health Organization began its campaign to eradicate Smallpox. Smallpox was declared extinct in 1980.
Over the last half century, vaccinations for 14 common childhood diseases have reduced global infant mortality by 40%. 154 million people, 101 million of which were infants, are alive today thanks to safe, effective vaccines. The measles vaccine, alone, is responsible for 60% of those lives saved. By almost any measure, the advent of mass vaccinations is the single greatest public health victory in modern medicine.
In the 75 years prior to the development of the polio vaccine, 9 children under the age of 13 were buried in the Christ Church Cemetery. In the 75 years after, there was only one.
We are entering a dangerous new era in public health as vaccine conspiracists use fear to deprive children of access to the most effective medical intervention ever created. In Texas, 22 children were infected with measles this month. In American Samoa, a 2019 outbreak left 61 children dead. The island ran out of child-sized coffins. The elevation of prominent vaccine-denier Robert Kennedy Jr. to the highest public health office sets us on a dangerous path towards new epidemics of old diseases.
We can’t allow the voices of reason, hard-won experience, community, and civic duty be drowned out by fear mongers. All you have to do is walk through any historic cemetery on the Eastern Shore to see that the truth about vaccines is written in stone.
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