We got a letter from the government telling us our daughter should be vaccinated-we refused

[KellyW]

24. It is true that TB vaccine is not very effective when given to adults.

It is much more effective at providing life-long immunity when given to children. My daughter was about a year old when we received the letter. She is 18 years old now. Her parents obviously had to make the choice for her when she was 1 year old. If my daughter suddenly decided to go do volunteer work at Mother Theresa's Kalighat Home for the Dying Destitutes in Calcutta, then I would say that we made the wrong decision for her-it would have been much better for her to have received the TB vaccine when she was 1 year old. I don’t see her doing that. The point that I have been trying to make is the position of many that vaccines are always good and safe and there is never any reason to refuse them is as unreasonable as those who refuse all vaccines under any circumstances. There is a risk-benefit calculation that must be done. I am not willing to take those decisions completely out of the hands of individuals and give them exclusively to the government (which does not always make these decisions based on the current science).