The Truth About Vaccine Safety
It is a mess. That’s the truth.
Over and over again we see govt officials, the AAP and, especially, the CDC blame vaccine safety advocates for the lack of trust American families have in our infant and toddler immunization schedule. The CDC has repeatedly said that any parental concerns over vaccine safety are groundless. So many times we have been lectured about the “extremely safe protocols” surrounding vaccine testing, production and storage.
However, recent news confirmed that 75% of all pediatric vaccines are unsafely stored. I want to say that a few times because it bears repeating. A full SEVENTY- FIVE % of ALL PEDIATRIC VACCINES are STORED AT UNSAFE temperatures. Not only are vaccines stored at unsafe temperatures but expired vaccines are regularly injected into babies and toddlers.
You may be asking where this information comes from? No, not Generation Rescue, the NAA or ARI but the CDC themselves. So unless they are lying to make themselves look bad, a highly unlikely event, I think we can take them at their word here.
Hmmmm…now who is responsible for the fact that infant and toddler vaccines are unsafe? Jenny McCarthy? SafeMinds? Jenny and SafeMinds are regularly accused by vaccine makers of stirring up unnecessary worry about vaccines and engendering the health of our nation. They are also blamed for causing outbreaks of whooping cough and the measles. Hmmmm…I always found this interesting because almost all of the kids who get these diseases WERE indeed vaccinated against them. Yet still, somehow, Jenny McCarthy, magically, infected hundreds of vaccinated kids with the whooping cough and measles.
I am just throwing this out there, but could these whooping cough outbreaks be the result of the fact that SEVENTY- FIVE % of AMERICAN KIDS HAVE BEEN INJECTED WITH EXPIRED OR IMPROPERLY STORED VACCINES? But, for the sake of the argument, let’s get back to the conspiracy theory - autism Moms and Dads are responsible for disease outbreaks. Is Jenny McCarthy running your pediatricians’ office? Have you ever seen Jenny McCarthy working in the vaccine storage area? Maybe you have seen me, Lyn Redwood or Louise Habakus administering expired vaccines at pediatric practices or driving vaccine delivery trucks to doctor’s offices? If so, speak up.
OK, so here we are. There are no rational explanations for the fact that SEVENTY-FIVE % of PEDIATRIC VACCINES ARE UNSAFE other than negligence and, I am guessing, arrogance. The CDC takes your kids for granted. They know 95% of infants are vaccinated and don’t need to work hard improving vaccine safety.
Pediatricians do not go into this field to get rich, nor do they have great hours or work with an easy clientele. Pediatricians really care about children and want their patients to be healthy. I think the problem is that pediatricians want to be physicians, not pharmacists. The current crowded and aggressive infant and vaccination schedule has forced already busy medical practices to become vaccine administration centers. Just imagine if you pharmacist also had to treat dozens of sick kids everyday. Disaster. That nice and neat medication storeroom would be a mess in no time.
Twenty years ago, babies were injected with about a dozen viruses prior to age 2. Today babies receive 38 vaccines/viruses before age 2. Clearly this insane increase in volume has compromised safety standards.
I was reading the CDC’s vaccine storage guidelines and wow are they complex! For example, the “MCV4 and MPSV4 meningococcal vaccines can easily be confused when stored in the same unit. However MPSV4 are supplied in 2 vials that must be mixed together BEFORE administration. Consider posting a reminder for your staff! ONLY use diliuent supplied by manufacturer to reconstitute vaccine…” Easy enough, right?
“The Tetanus toxoid container vaccines are easily confused, increasing risk for error (no kidding). Vaccines exposed to temperature outside recommended range requires immediate corrective actions! Mark Do Not Use!” Well we know that isn’t happening.
“Gardasil and the flu vaccine must be delivered and correctly stored by pediatric practices within 48hrs of leaving vaccine facility.” Let’s be real. What are the chances everyone is following this directive? “Gardasil must be protected from light at all times!” Right. “Influenza products have different indications (ages, route). Storing multi products can be confusing and lead to staff error.” No kidding. “The MMR-lyophililized vaccine must be stored between -58 degrees and 46 degrees BUT the dilient can only be stored at 35 to 46 degrees.” Good luck with that.
The CDC also recommends that pediatric practices own a half dozen different refrigerators, but NOT the “dorm mini-refrigerators” that I see at every pediatric practice. I mean the whole thing is crazy. We are talking about pediatric practices having to perform complicated vaccine administration laboratory-like experiments. These are busy human service medical centers, not MIT or CalTech. To make matter worse the CDC can’t wait to add more vaccines to the infant schedule. It is nuts. I envision the infant vaccination schedule like a glass of milk, filled to the rim and someone keeps pouring more and more and the milk into the glass, and milk is spilling all over the table and floor.
Disaster. Parents are worried about vaccine safety simply because vaccines are unsafe.
Katie Wright is a Contributing Editor to Age of Autism.
"I envision the infant vaccination schedule like a glass of milk, filled to the rim and someone keeps pouring more and more and the milk into the glass, and milk is spilling all over the table and floor."
This remind me of the saying: "Why cry over spilled milk when you can mop it up and squeeze it over your kids' breakfast cereals?"
A similar mentality seems to prevail with vaccines: "Why cry over improperly stored or expired vaccines when you can shove them into babies' and children's bodies?"
Posted by: Account Deleted | July 10, 2012 at 10:12 PM
Not that I necessarily believe them, but they make a comment in this page about the 76% number being the amount of offices, not the amount of vaccines:
" Contrary to some news reports, the OIG did not find that 76% of all vaccine was stored improperly"
http://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2012/s0607_children_vaccine.html
Having said that, I can't say that I believe them, lol!
Posted by: Julie Leonardo | July 05, 2012 at 07:49 AM
Donna L., thank you so much for the links!
Posted by: Jacqueline VW | June 30, 2012 at 11:01 AM
Katie, great informative article. However, "the lack of trust American families have in 'our' infant....." It not ours anything;its 100% "theirs". The mess is theirs, the vaccine damage is theirs, the arrogance and ignorance is theirs. And when their policies have have caused such destruction to "our" children, of course, they want to blame parents or anyone but themselves.
Posted by: michael | June 30, 2012 at 09:58 AM
Jacqueline VW-
These links worked for me:
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/parents/OIG-report-vfc.html
http://oig.hhs.gov/oei/reports/oei-04-10-00430.asp
Posted by: Donna L. | June 30, 2012 at 09:47 AM
Okay scary as it can be. Brazil a 3rd world country, has specific places for vacinations called (Posto de Saude) where they handle all vaccinations. Not at my doctors office... I have two healthy children that was born there, and one very sick guy born and vaccinated in USA.
Posted by: Ana Dultra | June 30, 2012 at 01:09 AM
I have been trying to find this information on the CDC site and haven't been able to locate it. Anyone else been able to find it? Incidentally, I tried finding the article that cited the CDC's findings on a local new station's website and it has been removed. Suspicious. It reeks of guilt.
Posted by: Jacqueline VW | June 29, 2012 at 11:44 PM
Katie:
Excellent article! The current pieces posted by AoA about the CDC's guidelines concerning "safe" vaccine storage - or lack thereof - hits home. AoA has reframed the argument concerning the vaccine schedule. Whether a parent is on the autism trail of tears and fears or not, this new information should be the shot (pun intended) heard 'round the world.
Posted by: Christine Thompson | June 29, 2012 at 10:11 AM
"They couldn't even keep autism brain tissue frozen. How the HELL can they keep vaccines at the right temperature?"
Refrigeration is a real challenge for these people. Maybe that's why they invented "refrigerator moms."
Posted by: pass the popcorn | June 29, 2012 at 09:56 AM
where can i find the CDC article on this issue?
Posted by: Andy Wood | June 29, 2012 at 09:11 AM
Re: light exposure to some vaccines like Gardasil would probably reduce its potency and thus, effectiveness(to the person who asked)
Thanks Katie--love this piece. No joke
Maurine
Posted by: Maurine meleck | June 29, 2012 at 01:30 AM
I can't keep track of my car hoe the H^ll can we expect a doctor to keep track of the expiration date on all the vile in his office or to immediately draw the vaccine into the hypodermic after rolling the vile in his hands to insure that he doesn't draw all precipitate.
Remember these guys are really pressured and rushed when seeing patients. We hardly stand a chance!
Posted by: Paul S | June 28, 2012 at 11:38 PM
EDITORS: I suggest the title be changed to:
"CDC admits: PEDIATRICIANS NOT FOLLOWING VACCINE GUIDELINES"
This would get that message out there even to those too 'twitterfied' and "texty' (i.e. one line is all they can handle ) to bother to read the article.
And it would lure even the skeptical who would skip the "The Truth About Vaccines" to read it since the source is the CDC. Kinda like Nixon goes to china.
GREAT STUFF, GREAT RESEARCH KATIE!
Posted by: Carolyn KylesMom | June 28, 2012 at 10:20 PM
The whole vaccine mess starts on the day of birth...
Dose one of a four dose shot of the hep b vaccine $$$ .... which is a two dose option in Canada starting at ...age twelve. Someone has to be a "bit damn mistaken" on this issue.
The Hepatitis B vaccine...one dose at birth... one, four & six months of age.
The addition of the Hep B vaccine provided American infants with 100 micrograms of mercury from 1991 to 2002.
http://www.ageofautism.com/2009/10/hepatitis-b-vaccine-an-unmitigated-disaster-.html
.....So in the CDC and ACIP's own words, almost every newborn U.S. baby is now greeted on its entry into the world by a vaccine injection against a sexually transmitted disease for which the baby is not at risk -- because they couldn't get the junkies, prostitutes, homosexuals and promiscuous heterosexuals to take the vaccine.
...That is the essence of the Hepatitis B universal vaccination program.
47 days of life with the hep b vaccine...
http://www.ageofautism.com/2009/02/managing-editors-note-below-is-the-story-of-iam-gromowski-a-boy-who-lived-47-days-after-his-hepatitis-b-vaccination-thank.html
Posted by: cmo | June 28, 2012 at 09:45 PM
They couldn't even keep autism brain tissue frozen. How the HELL can they keep vaccines at the right temperature? Oh, wait, that was probably deliberate. Bitter? Moi?
Posted by: Sue Morgan | June 28, 2012 at 07:01 PM
Iread in the article "Gardasil must be protected from light at all times"....does anyone know "specifically" why? Am wondering if it starts to grow fungus, or....
thks
Posted by: Lynn | June 28, 2012 at 05:20 PM
oops. I meant "greed" not "green"!
Posted by: antoinette f. | June 28, 2012 at 05:19 PM
Ok, so this is what I LOVE:
Autism parents are realllly starting to catch on to big pharma and the CDC's green and abuse towards our children. I always say over and over, "Truth and Time". So first it's the parent's fault. The moms are overweight. The dads are too old. The names we give them cause them to be ADHD...the list goes on and on and gets more ridiculous with every accusation.
So now that the world may be thinking, "Huh? Wait. This doesn't make sense.", now the CDC has to switch gears and blame the Peds for not storing vaccines properly! Which I'm sure there's truth to that, but c'mon!!! Own up already. I can't wait to see how this all turns out. The excuses change weekly, so I have hope we'll see this come to a head in our lifetime!!!
We have an almost 4 year old son with high functioning and we stopped vaccinating his baby sister before her 15 month shots. I'm sure most parents still vaccinating are sweating it out as they pin their child's legs down and watch the needles go in.
Posted by: antoinette f. | June 28, 2012 at 05:18 PM
Bureaucratic arrogance is damaging children, and no amount of corporate jingoism can refute that medical reality.
Posted by: nhokkanen | June 28, 2012 at 04:32 PM
Adam M,
I couldn't agree with you more. Well said.
Posted by: Bayareamom | June 28, 2012 at 03:52 PM
Thank You Katie.
I suppose mishandling the poison cocktails can could make them even more dangerous but what we talking about? The vaccines are POISON COCKTAILS!!! The list of ingredients is horrifying. How could you ever "green" a vaccine. You would have to take all the ingredients out except the saline which would then do nothing. Vaccine Safety Manual by Neil Z. Miller should be required reading for all high school students or at least viewing of Dr Tenpenny's documentaries.
Vaccines are one of the greatest frauds ever forced on the public. And our generation isn't the first to notice. Even at the start of mass vaccination programs in the US and UK 200 yrs ago there were many health professionals speaking out against it. Also, mortality rates fell dramatically after the turn of the last century for many infectious diseases BEFORE the vaccines for them were developed. And for some diseases there never were mass vaccine programs. Scarlet fever mortality declined for the same reasons the others did. Our message should be simple. Avoid vaccines and all other toxins as much as you can. Focus on good nutrition, plenty of sleep, and simplifying your life to eliminate stress. We're in trouble because we don't take care of those basic things. Then we go running to the doctor drug dealers for a magic bullet so we can keep on ignoring the basics of health. We are not beholden to doctors and drug companies or their poison cocktails for our health/disease resistance.
Posted by: Adam M | June 28, 2012 at 03:20 PM
Re: whooping cough outbreaks. Apart from storage problems, perhaps the whooping cough vaccine has similar problems to Merck's MMR mumps component, i.e., the vaccine's efficacy has diminished.
Posted by: Carol | June 28, 2012 at 02:16 PM
Well I love Jenny McCarthy. I found her book w Dr. Jerry Kartinzel , "Healing Autism" to be so well researched and comprehensive. I give it to newly dx parents all the time. I highly recommend it.
The Generation Rescue/ Autism One conference was amazing! $25 for 5 days of lectures and workshops. Every year I learn so much. Thanks again to all the people who put that together.
Posted by: Katie Wright | June 28, 2012 at 02:13 PM
I agree Katie. It is just unbelievable to me how ignorant some people are in blaming people like JM and others. I came across a piece by Jessica Wilson of Newton MA in the Huffington Post stirring the pot with Jenny McCarthy, biomed and vaccines. She also wrote something on her personal blog, Diary Of A Mom. The comments were, to put it bluntly, assinine and ignorant. Unfortunately I believe people like this will always be brainwashed and never accept the fact the medical community has a hand in over vaccination and autism. The dumbing down of America is alive and well in people like these commenters from her blog:
1.I take tremendous issue with the likes of Jenny McCarthy and her audacity. –Just saying!
Looking forward to reading your response.
Love you,
Mom
Comment by Mom — June 19, 2012 @ 5:56 am |Reply
2.…and ignorance!
Still Mom
Comment by Mom — June 19, 2012 @ 5:57 am |Reply
3.I read about this on ThAutcast and was again disappointed that Jenny has chosen this route. When my little one was diagnosed 11 1/2 years ago, I looked for a celebrity mom to bring awareness and show that this can happen to anyone of any income and any background. Unfortunately, she chose to go the “junk science” route and then made outrageous claims that her son was “cured”, but never not once in any interview did she mention the INTENSIVE behavioral therapy she was able to afford and provide for her son. Now she blames Jim Carey for her son’s current issues (hmmm… you are blaming your X boyfriend?) And doing interviews saying you are going to take your clothes off for Playboy in order to bring a awareness to autism…I think that Jenny LOVES the attention she gets from the autism umbrella! People who live in glass houses should not throw stones!!!
OH, and I am not a VICTIM or a WARRIOR. I am a MOM.
Comment by thestoryofuslivingwithautism — June 19, 2012 @ 6:09 am |Reply
◦LOVE your comments – and I agree whole-heartedly – what the hell has she done lately to keep her in the spotlight other than promote junk science….if it wasn’t for her son’s Autism and Playboy, no one would even know who she is anymore!
Comment by nickysmomma — June 19, 2012 @ 7:14 am |Reply
4.What a jerk. Sorry, that’s the Jersey girl coming out. She really needs to think twice before she opens her mouth. And she’s suppose to be avocating for autism. Please.
Comment by Debbie — June 19, 2012 @ 6:11 am |Reply
5.umm, Jenny, I think you’re talking about the r
elatively rare mental illness called munchausen syndrome by proxy. It’s in the DSM-IV, look it up. Sometimes I feel like a warrior, sometimes I feel like having a pity party (Matt was just diagnosed in March, I figure I’ll grow out of it). But please, don’t pose nude on my behalf or pretend you’re speaking for me.
Comment by elaine — June 19, 2012 @ 6:18 am |Reply
6.What the…?
Seriously?
I honestly have now words – except thank goodness for celebrities like Melanie Sykes! http://rosewinelover.com/2012/05/31/why-some-celebrities-deserve-to-be-famous/
Comment by Missus Tribble — June 19, 2012 @ 6:19 am |Reply
7.She’s talking about doing things for attention. Seriously? Pot meet kettle.
Comment by Dawn — June 19, 2012 @ 6:52 am |Reply
8.I’m looking forward to your response to this. Not because it’s going to be some knock-down, drag-out fight. But because it will be more reasoned and intelligent than Ms. McCarthy’s ramblings.
My first reaction to reading Ms. McCarthy’s statement was “Pot, meet kettle”. With a couple of not so polite words thrown in.
Comment by kellyg — June 19, 2012 @ 6:56 am |Reply
9.Can I curse on here? Because I REALLY REALLY want to curse right now….like REALLY REALLY bad curses that I only reserve for special moments.
Comment by nickysmomma — June 19, 2012 @ 7:17 am |Reply
◦Oh yeah.. I’m with you there
Comment by Marla Dressen — June 19, 2012 @ 10:58 am |Reply
10.Jenny McCarthy sets my teeth on edge….
Comment by Karin — June 19, 2012 @ 7:50 am |Reply
11.Jenny McCarthy needs a big huge reality check. No, she’s not qualified to determine what all moms whose kids are diagnosed with ASD are going through on a subconscious level. No, she did not earn the right to both classify and divide us according to the approach each if us takes in coping with autism. No, she has no evidence that vaccines cause autism. In fact, there’s a growing body of evidence to the contrary. Jenny McCarthy needs to think a whole lot more before she speaks. The woman is an actual menace.
Comment by Jenny G — June 19, 2012 @ 7:57 am |Reply
Posted by: when will the ignorance end? | June 28, 2012 at 01:40 PM
Considering how many of us can relate a variety of questionable or flat out wrong vaccine administrations by the ped's staff, I have often wondered how many times a vaccine, such as the MMR, has been incorrectly administered intramuscularly instead of subcutaneously, and if that contributes to increasing the probability of an adverse reaction. My sister who was with me when my daughter was vaccinated with the MMR became very upset with the doctor's nurse that made that very same mistake.
Posted by: Donna K | June 28, 2012 at 01:34 PM
Wow Katie. It is mind boggling to think about all of the ways that vaccines could be compromised due to human error. Improper storage, as you so rightly point out, is just one more way that a vaccine could be rendered either more toxic or less effective. Now add to that hot lots of vaccines that are compromised either in distribution or development, plus the crap in them and then the infectious material, and one wonders why anyone would want to vaccinate. It is frightening. Could be you just came up with a good way to explain why some children are badly affected by vaccines and others aren't. Maybe it isn't all genetic predisposition. Whatever the case, I am by now convinced that vaccines are responsible for most of what ails the human race. We are poisoning ourselves.
Posted by: CT teacher | June 28, 2012 at 12:37 PM
And then there are the problems that occur in manufacturing. Does warming up charred shrink wrap improve it? http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2011/07/29/charred-shrink-wrap-in-merck-vaccines-read-the-fda-inspection-reports/
And other problems in 2008: http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2008/04/24/fda-uncovers-problems-at-merck-vaccine-plant/
Not to pick on Merck particularly.
Posted by: Carol | June 28, 2012 at 12:35 PM
http://www.forbes.com/sites/gerganakoleva/2012/06/27/merck-whistleblower-suit-a-boon-to-anti-vaccination-advocates-though-it-stresses-importance-of-vaccines/ <--- I was thinking the same thing this morning as I read this article. Merck knowingly sells ineffective vaccines and exaggerates its benefits, yet its always the "unvaccinated children" who are to blame when there is a measles outbreak.
Posted by: Julie | June 28, 2012 at 12:20 PM
Can you post a link to the CDC's report? Thanks!!!
Posted by: Rachel | June 28, 2012 at 12:02 PM
Stop using pediatricians. They are destroying your children's bodies. Use an old fashioned GP, Homeopath, Holistic practitioner. We need a revolution and to bring justice to ALL the innocent lives that have been harmed destroyed. Stop vaccinating your children! Breastfeed! use clean water and organic food. Stop the Insanity.
Posted by: ioneskye | June 28, 2012 at 12:00 PM
Katie,
You are so spot on. I live in Washington state and we have had an "epidemic" outbreak of whooping cough this year. The CDC had to come in to investigate to try unearthing some of the potential cause(s) for this outbreak. Of the 45 doctor's offices they visited, 75% of the offices were storing the vaccines at an incorrect temperature, or were expired. I nearly fell off my chair when I read this! I was so mad that many parents I know are up in arms about parents not vaccinating their kids and thus, being the cause of this "epidemic" of whooping cough in our state. What they don't realize, and the CDC won't admit, even after their investigation, is that the physicians who are improperly storing vaccines have a hand in the blame. The truth is before us, we simply have to push the peripheral noise aside and really pay attention to what is being said.
Posted by: Jacqueline VW | June 28, 2012 at 11:37 AM
AmyinIdaho, maybe that's another reason why infant mortality is higher in US , per what you said about strict storage/administration of vaccines protocol in Germany.
Posted by: Jen | June 28, 2012 at 11:25 AM
Back when I sold Mary Kay as a little something to do, I remember being appalled over the fact of how some sales people were storing their make-up products in their boiling hot car trunks. I also notice that Sephora stores product near very warm lights. That can't be good. Of course poor cosmetic/skin care products storage pales compared to improper storage of a product that is injected into children! I bet this news story didn't make the Today show either.
Posted by: Jen | June 28, 2012 at 11:18 AM
All the risk and little chance of reward
Posted by: Lisa @ TACA | June 28, 2012 at 11:12 AM
Yes, thanks for reminding us about another major hole in this moth eaten medical system of ours.
Posted by: Kapoore | June 28, 2012 at 10:53 AM
I worked for several different physicians in the early 80s, and contrary to what the officials would have you believe, there is no official, tightly controlled 'vaccine storage area' in any medical practice. In the pediatric office, vaccines were kept in a little mini-fridge right along with employees' lunches. In a very busy family practice clinic, vaccines were stored in the door shelves of a regular fridge right alongside everyone's snacks and lunches, and throughout the day, employees would stand in front of the open fridge gossiping and searching for food, just like you'd see in any break room anywhere.
At the beginning of every well-baby checkup, the nurses would set out on their desks the various vaccine vials that were to be given during that visit, and the vials would sit there for the entire length of the patient's wait time and exam. Then if the doctor came out and stated that the child had a fever and would have to come back for immunizations (hey, this was the 80s and at that time, they really did hold off on shots if a child was sick), the nurse would put the already warmed vaccine vials right back into the fridge.
If this was SOP back when the vaccine schedule was limited to just DPT, MMR and OPV, I have a really hard time believing that with the current bloated vax schedule, any office anywhere is following proper storage regulations. This is all one huge farce and our children are paying the price with their very lives.
Posted by: Donna L. | June 28, 2012 at 10:34 AM
Sadly, publicly admitting that vaccines are improperly stored will probably be used as an excuse to say that all the kids need to be re-vaccinated....
Posted by: Joanna | June 28, 2012 at 10:04 AM
What happens to to vaccines when they are not stored properly? Do they become toxic? Less effective? And are the adjuvants and the preservatives affected adversely? I would be curious to know what kind of health implications poorly stored vaccines have on children.
Posted by: ln | June 28, 2012 at 09:54 AM
This is about storage of vaccines and things don't look good. It's certainly on a par with how they're tested and produced. Now imagine how used vaccines are disposed of, especially the mercury-laced flu shot. This is definitely a bad report card for pediatricians whose primary job is vaccinating children.
The sad state of medicine today includes the fact that doctors don't know the cause, treatment, cure, or prevention for autism. I'm not surprised they can't handle vaccines safely either.
Anne Dachel, Media
Posted by: Anne McElroy Dachel | June 28, 2012 at 09:46 AM
Katie,
In my opinion, you give too much credit to pediatricians. The vast majority of pediatricians and society for that fact are a bunch of drones. No one thinks for themselves anymore - We have become lazy! We rely on a bunch of crooks to set standards. Greed and laziness drove the financial crisis and is driving this health crisis. Now excuse me while I go puke - I just heard a mom of an ASD kid bragging how she rammed in as many shots as she could at her child's recent ped visit bc she knew the kid wouldn't go back for more if she spaced them out.
We can't afford to be innocent
Stand up and face the enemy.
It's a do or die situation - we will be invincible.
And with the power of conviction there is no sacrifice.
It's a do or die situation - we will be invincible.
Posted by: Michelle | June 28, 2012 at 09:46 AM
Thx Katie - great piece! I just found this on the CDC website too: "It is better to not vaccinate than to administer a dose of vaccine that has been mishandled." http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pinkbook/downloads/vac-storage.pdf.
Posted by: Kim Mack Rosenberg | June 28, 2012 at 09:41 AM
Wow. It is not unreasonable to think that 100% of US ped offices are not following ALL of the proper storage and administration instructions since there are so many pushed vaccines and so little time given per patient at any office. Truly scary stuff.
When my son turned 1, we moved to Germany (not part of the military system) and lived there for 1.5 years. I was still a "good mom" then and getting our shots on time. The vaccines there are not kept at the Dr's office. The Doc orders the vaccine, a nurse runs down to the Apotheke (pharmacy), the pharmacist prepares the vaccine, the nurse brings it back to the office and the shot is given there. It seemed weird to me at the time but now I know that at least for the shots given at age 1 thru 2, my son received a vaccine that was stored and administered correctly.
Our regression was more of a slow plateau with lots of splintered learning still occurring. I've never been able to find anyone whose child demonstrated the same sorts of things as a whole and I've always thought that getting half of his vaccines in Germany was probably the reason. That and the fact that the Germans don't like GMO food.
I agree with @See How They Like That - next time you're getting pressured for vaccines, ask to see all of the vaccine inserts and then demand that you see their storage and preparation area.
Posted by: AmyinIdaho | June 28, 2012 at 09:25 AM
Thanks for putting another very legitimate vaccine safety concern on the radar. Didn't realize storing vaccines was any more complicated than putting them in a refrigerator.
Yes, there's immense opportunity at every stage in vaccine distribution, storage and reconstituion for human error to further compromise vaccine safety.
More reasons to just say no.
Posted by: Beth | June 28, 2012 at 09:07 AM
Here's an idea: next time you find yourself at the pediatrician's office and they start hassling you about vaccinating, throw out the 75% stat and ask for a tour of the vaccine storage area.
Posted by: see how they like that! | June 28, 2012 at 08:54 AM
Katie .. positively frightening information regarding the "complexity" of shipping, storing and administering childhood vaccines. Obviously, the more vaccines added to the already crowded schedule will only provide further opportunities for such "human errors" to increase the KNOWN risks of vaccines.
Consider the proud boast of the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) .. that TEN MILLION VACCINES ARE ADMINISTERED TO CHILDREN DURING THEIR FIRST YEAR OF LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES.
Math has never been my favorite subject .. but .. I suspect 75% of 10,000,000 children .. EVERY YEAR .. receiving vaccines that may have been compromised due to negligence would/could/should be considered CRIMINAL.
The problem .. as I see it .. NO ONE is assigned the responsibility to conduct unannounced "inspections" of pediatricians/doctors offices .. holding them professionably accountable for errors in following the complex "safe" procedures required by manufacturers.
Indeed, as things stand today .. NO ONE is required to REPORT a child received a vaccine that had been shipped, stored or administered improperly .. even if they KNEW ABOUT IT.
We can rest assured corporate financial institutions that routinely violate federal banking rules and regulations are held accountable for mismanaging the funds entrusted to them.
Posted by: Bob Moffitt | June 28, 2012 at 08:21 AM
"The CDC also recommends that pediatric practices own a half dozen different refrigerators, but NOT the “dorm mini-refrigerators” that I see at every pediatric practice."
I'd be surprised if there's a practice anywhere that adheres to these regulations.
Excellent article, Katie. There's so much room for error at the doc's office - and that's on top of the manufacturing problems, the lack of safety testing and the known dangers of vaccine ingredients.
Posted by: pass the popcorn | June 28, 2012 at 08:16 AM
No matter how brilliant pediatricians may seem to their patients, does that brilliance extend to everyone working in the facility? The front-desk attendant who gets your name wrong? The nurse who always forgets that you're a vaccine 'decliner' or that your child has a latex allergy? The office manager who has no idea that a temporary power outage does damage to things besides the internet connection? The janitor who accidentally leaves the fridge door ajar?
Humans are fallible. Sounds like the details of storage and administration should be adhered to under threat of charges for manslaughter. Wow.
Posted by: Zed | June 28, 2012 at 08:12 AM
And the milk isn't covered, it's stored at room temperature, and you're not quite sure what animal it came from.
Posted by: Rob Smith | June 28, 2012 at 07:27 AM