The Case for Vaccination

It's worth pointing out that John McCain's embrace of discredited autism-vaccine connection theories isn't just an odd display of ignorance, it's a positive public danger. As Arthur Allen spelled out in a September 2002 Atlantic article, communities where immunization rates dip below a critical threshold see the re-emergence of endemic diseases that modern public health techniques are perfectly capable of stamping out.

There are millions and millions of people in this country strongly predisposed to believe that John McCain wouldn't run around saying there was "strong evidence" that getting your kids vaccinated might put them at risk for autism unless there was, in fact, such evidence. Some of them will have their children avoid vaccination, and a price will be paid. Link via Jerry Taylor.