Vaccine protection against flu is never 100%. Even when the vaccine and virus are well matched, there can be a mix of flu strains in circulation, with some less like the vaccine strains than others. The vaccine depends on the host’s immune system response, and often those most in need of protection -- the elderly, the very young, the chronically ill -- have the weakest immune system responses. And then there is simply the fact that no defense against anything is ever 100%. A given bullet from a given gun can pierce a bulletproof vest. That doesn’t make the vest useless; just imperfect.
The use of flu vaccine imperfections as an argument against immunization is not only misguided, but a classic instance of making an elusive perfect the enemy of attainable good. The fact that people can still die in car crashes is scarcely an argument against seat belts and airbags. Those not saved in no way obviate the merit of those who are. Were we to treat seat belts like vaccines, there would be websites devoted to deaths among those wearing seat belts; arguments that seat belts were to blame for those deaths; the insinuation, or overt accusation, that seat belts are in fact a genocidal tactic of some government agency; and a patina of “back to nature” virtue painted over the anti-seat belt movement.
The bottom line is that anti-vaccine sentiment and associated conspiracy theories are a luxury accessible only to societies largely spared the historical toll of dreadful, vaccine-preventable diseases. If our children were still prone to polio, any anti-vaccine evangelists would be trampled by the mob rushing to the immunization clinic. Continue....
-- David L. Katz, MD, MPH
