All products created by Big Pharma are not created equal. [View all]

[pnwmom]

All products approved by the FDA are not equally safe and effective.

Not every person benefits from the products that benefit most other people.

Drugs are a vital part of the health care system but not every drug is equally safe and effective.

Vaccines are a vital part of the health care system but not every vaccine is equally safe and effective.

A vaccine, like a drug, may be taken off the market when the risks turn out to outweigh the benefits. (As with the old DPT vaccine.)

Having specific concerns about a particular drug or vaccine in particular situations does not make anyone either anti-drug or anti-vaccine.


Given all the above, mandated vaccines historically have been reserved for potentially serious diseases that can be spread through casual contact: like measles, whooping cough, etc.

HPV was the first vaccine that a governmental unit (Rick Perry's Texas) tried to mandate even though it was for a disease that was NOT spread through casual contact.

IMO, in order to preserve public confidence in the system, we should be wary of mandating vaccines that are not spread through casual contact unless the disease is both life threatening and not easily treatable. (Such as an HIV vaccine)

Big Pharma will produce the vaccines it deems to potentially have the most profit. That's why Big Pharma wants a mandate -- for everything. Big government should only mandate vaccines based on overall social good -- not the economic good of Big Pharma.

Big Pharma will pick the low-hanging fruit -- i.e., produce the vaccines that are easiest to produce. That does not mean we have to eat everything Big Pharma picks. We can only eat so much, so we need to be choosy.

Vaccines should be prioritized on a public health need -- not based on which is easiest or most profitable for the drug companies. So the decisions regarding the need for a vaccine or a mandate should be driven by the CDC and/or the FDA, not Big Pharma.