Read Aloud the Text Content

This audio was created by Woord's Text to Speech service by content creators from all around the world.

Text Content or SSML code:

Good morning and welcome back star gazers to another episode of Event Horizon where we tackle current events and controversies providing you with insight and a whole overview from a different perspective, and on today’s horizon we will be taking an early morning view on the rising issue of anti-vaccination, before we start I would like to remind you to hit the bell symbol to be notified every time I upload a new episode. The anti-vaxx movement, also known as ‘vaccine hesitancy’, has started to gain traction in the recent years and it’s crucial to know and understand the reasons behind this movement and its harmful impact on public health. The consequences of vaccine hesitancy are significant. Preventable diseases like measles and whooping cough have resurged in communities with low vaccination rates. Herd immunity is compromised, putting vulnerable individuals at risk. Diseases considered to be ancient or almost eliminated in most countries have begun to resurrect due to this anti-vaxx epidemic, most notably, the diseases prevented by the MMR vaccine. MMR standing for measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine. In November of 2019, an epidemic of measles appeared in Samoa that spiralled out of control causing the deaths of 39 people. The World Health Organisation were blaming an anti-vaccination campaign for leaving Samoa vulnerable to the spread of the virus. Vaccine hesitancy is as old as vaccines themselves and for as long as vaccines have existed so have anti-vaxxers, but only in recent years has there been a surge in opposition to vaccines. To understand why vaccine hesitancy exists, we must look through the perspective of someone who is anti-vax. For the average person with zero medical knowledge and no medical degree, it kind of makes sense for you to not trust the vaccine. In what world would you prevent diseases with other diseases? Concerned parents really do just want the best for their child, and when the internet is littered with potential misinformation, their brain chemistry is wired to be negatively biased and only focus on the rare negatives than the massive amounts of benefits to vaccination. The most prominent obstacle in battling with the anti-vaccination movement is the constant spread of myths and misinformation, the predominant and main catalyst of surge of anti-vaccination is that vaccines cause autism. A fraudulent paper published in 1998 called, “The Lancet”, falsely claimed causative links between the MMR vaccine to colitis (swelling or inflammation of the colon) and from colitis to autism. Despite countless studies debunking and disproving the claims within the paper and the original authors retraction of the paper, many people clung to the ideals presented within the paper. Thank you, dear star gazers, for lending me an ear and I hope you learned something from this, if you have further questions feel free to DM me on my socials linked in the description. Until next time, stay healthy and stay informed.