On the Importance of Vaccines

Cross-posted from the Winnipeg Skeptics blog.

I occasionally have the pleasure of writing science articles for The Manitoban, the University of Manitoba's student newspaper. My most recent contribution, titled "On the importance of vaccines: Not taking part puts us all at risk", went live yesterday.

Vaccination is really important.

That may seem to you like an unusually benign assertion — not because it’s false, but because it’s so trivially and obviously true that it shouldn’t need to be said. If so, congratulations — you’re on the right side of the science.

You understand that when you receive a vaccination, you’re not just protecting yourself, you’re contributing to herd immunity by preventing yourself from becoming a vector for the disease and transmitting it to those who are too young or infirm to receive the vaccine themselves.

You can read the full article online, or you can pick up a copy of the newspaper at your nearest University of Manitoba.