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- Vaccine exemptions among kindergartners have risen from 3% to 3.3%, according to recent data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), indicating a shift in parental attitudes towards vaccinations
- The decline in vaccination rates is attributed to parents’ growing concerns about the increasing number of recommended vaccines as well as their side effects
- The decline in vaccination rates has sparked fear-inducing reports and comments from health officials. But many studies have long questioned the vaccines’ efficacy
- Numerous serious adverse events have been associated with the scheduled vaccines, resulting in heightened safety concerns among parents
- Protecting the right to obtain vaccine exemptions is essential for making informed choices. We should have the freedom to decline certain vaccines for ourselves and our children if we feel the risks outweigh the benefits
(Mercola)—In this country, we’re often led to believe that vaccines are backed by solid science and have unquestionable safety. However, when you start to dig deeper, you’ll find that the evidence supporting their safety and effectiveness is often quite weak.
Since the rapid development of mRNA shots during the pandemic, many parents have been more proactive in making decisions about their children’s vaccinations. Recent data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)1 reflect this shift, revealing that more parents of kindergarteners are becoming selective about which vaccines their child receives, or are choosing to delay certain vaccinations.
This change is driven by an increase in the number of recommended vaccines for children, coupled with rising concerns about their adverse effects. While mainstream media portrays this development as concerning, I believe it reflects a positive shift toward greater awareness and a desire among parents to make informed decisions about their children’s health care.
Fewer Parents Are Blindly Accepting the Scheduled Vaccines
According to the CDC,2 for the 2023 to 2024 school year, vaccination coverage among kindergartners decreased for all reported vaccines, with the percentage for the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine (MMR) at 92.7% and the diphtheria, tetanus and acellular pertussis vaccine (DTaP) at 92.3%.
These numbers fall below the 95% threshold recommended by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.3 The CDC has also noted a record increase in vaccine exemptions among kindergartners, with the percentage of children exempt from one or more required vaccines rising from 3% to 3.3% over the past year. This increase equates to approximately 80,000 to 127,000 children.4
The majority of these exemptions are non-medical, indicating that parents are increasingly making conscious decisions to opt out of certain vaccinations for reasons other than health contraindications. This decline continues a trend that began in the 2019 to 2020 school year, with over 30 states reporting lower vaccination rates compared to the previous year.5
State-by-state data shows variations in vaccination coverage across the country. Idaho reported the lowest vaccination coverage at 79.5%, while West Virginia maintained the highest at 98.4%. Fourteen states reported exemption rates exceeding 5%, indicating that in some regions, a substantial number of parents are choosing alternative approaches to vaccination.6
Unsurprisingly, this decline in vaccination rates has prompted fear-inducing reports from various news outlets and comments from health officials. For instance, in a report by AP News, Dr. Raynard Washington, chair of the Big Cities Health Coalition representing 35 major metropolitan public health departments, noted that the decline in vaccination rates “explains a worrisome creep in cases of whooping cough, measles and other vaccine-preventable diseases.”7
Previous Research Has Questioned the Effectiveness of the Vaccines
While declining vaccination rates are being linked to the resurgence of certain diseases, numerous studies have raised doubts about the efficacy of vaccines in preventing these illnesses from the outset. This raises valid concerns for parents who are wary of exposing their children to substances they believe carry more risks than benefits.
For instance, a paper published in the journal Science Translational Medicine8 back in 2018 revealed that 25% of individuals vaccinated against mumps lose their immunity within eight years, while half lose it within 19 years. This decline in immunity helps explain the resurgence of mumps among college-age populations.
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Moreover, virologist Stanley Plotkin stated in a Science report9 that research indicates the MMR vaccine produces a weaker immune response against current mumps strains compared to those from 50 years ago. Health officials subsequently recommended a third dose of MMR for 18-year-olds, further increasing the number of vaccines administered per individual. Another study published in Current Opinion in Virology showed similar findings. According to the authors:10
“Vaccine-preventable diseases (VPD) including measles and mumps have been re-emerging in countries with sustained high vaccine coverage. For mumps, waning immunity has been recognized as a major contributor to recent outbreaks … Accumulating serological and epidemiological evidence suggests that natural immunity induced by infection may be more durable compared to vaccine-induced immunity.”
When it comes to DTaP vaccines, previous research has also raised concerns regarding their long-term effectiveness and safety profile. For example, a 2021 study published in the journal Vaccine11 found that its effectiveness against pertussis (whooping cough) declines rapidly over time. This finding corroborates earlier studies that similarly indicated waning immunity associated with the DTaP vaccine.12,13,14
Vaccines Have a History of Causing Adverse Events
If a vaccine is highly effective and the risk of the disease is significant, parents would likely feel that the vaccine’s benefits outweigh its side effects. They might even support getting an extra dose.
However, if the vaccine is ineffective or if the disease is not a serious threat, the risks do not seem justified, especially if it’s been associated with serious side effects. Unfortunately, that’s the case with many of the scheduled vaccines, which have been associated with thousands of serious adverse events and hundreds of deaths.
Unofficial surveys15,16 suggest that highly vaccinated children have more chronic health problems than unvaccinated children, and that unvaccinated children have a far lower incidence rate of autism. There’s also a growing body of research suggesting that vaccines are associated with a variety of brain and immune system disorders, including an increased risk for:
- Learning and developmental disabilities
- Brain damage
- Allergies, asthma and gut problems
- Autoimmune diseases
- Chronic infections
A study published in the Journal of Public Health and Epidemiology17 examined the correlation between autism and three specific vaccines — MMR, varicella (chickenpox) and hepatitis-A vaccines. The authors of the study suggest that the introduction of vaccines derived from human fetal cell lines, specifically the WI-38 cell line, which may harbor fetal and retroviral contaminants, could be linked to rising autism rates.
They noted a sharp increase in autism prevalence coinciding with the release of these vaccines. While this hypothesis provides one avenue for exploring the rising incidence of autism among children, it highlights a broader issue — there are many questions about vaccine science and policy that must be answered quickly before more are added to the government-recommended and mandated list for children and adults. As noted by Children’s Health Defense:18
“The truth is none of those vaccines have ever been studied or considered for their relationship to autism, so no one has any idea. This would be like trying to identify the source of a plane crash, suspecting mechanical failure, solely analyzing one of the wings, and then declaring the entire airplane free of culpability.”
What Parents Need to Know About Aluminum in Vaccines
One important aspect of vaccine safety is the presence of aluminum, a neurotoxic substance linked to increasing rates of autism and Alzheimer’s disease. For years, I have cautioned that vaccines are a significant source of aluminum exposure.
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Vaccines contain a variety of components, each playing a specific role in the product’s intended function. The primary ingredient is the antigen, typically a weakened or inactivated form of the target pathogen. Adjuvants are included to supposedly enhance the immune response, with aluminum being one of the most common. Preservatives, stabilizers and residual components from the manufacturing process may also be present in the final product.19
Aluminum adjuvants have been used in vaccines for nearly a century, and were approved based on their efficacy rather than safety data. The assumption of safety, rather than rigorous testing, has led to growing concerns about long-term effects. This is particularly worrisome given that injected aluminum bypasses the body’s natural filtration systems, making it more bioavailable than ingested aluminum.20,21
The presence of aluminum in vaccines is especially concerning for infants and young children who receive multiple doses according to recommended schedules. Studies have shown that when adjusted for body weight, the current CDC childhood vaccine schedule exposes children to aluminum levels far exceeding estimated safe limits. This raises questions about aluminum accumulation in various organs, including the brain.
Research has demonstrated aluminum’s ability to cross the blood-brain barrier and accumulate in brain tissue.22 Studies have found significant amounts of aluminum in the brains of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease, often co-located with amyloid-beta protein plaques. Some researchers have even suggested that without aluminum exposure, Alzheimer’s disease might not occur within the normal human lifespan.23
The biological effects of aluminum are wide-ranging and impact multiple bodily systems. Aluminum has been shown to adversely affect neuronal function, disrupt cellular signaling, worsen the effects of other heavy metals and influence gene expression. It also causes mitochondrial dysfunction and ATP depletion, setting the stage for various chronic diseases.24
Why Protecting Vaccine Exemptions Is Important
These known side effects of vaccines remind us why it’s so important to protect our right to make informed choices about vaccinations and to obtain vaccine exemptions in the U.S. Every individual needs to have the freedom to choose what’s best for themselves and their children, including the option to decline certain vaccines if they believe the risks are too high.
Voluntary consent is a foundation of ethical health care. It allows families to consider the risks and benefits of vaccines based on their unique health conditions. Given the lack of the science behind vaccine safety, maintaining vaccine exemption is a necessary protective measure. This is not anti-science, but a call for more thorough, independent research and greater transparency.
When it comes to protecting your family’s health, staying informed is your best strategy. Take the time to do your own research, ask questions and trust your instincts instead of simply following mandates or giving in to societal pressure. By actively seeking out information, you’re ensuring that your family’s health is in your own hands — not dictated by fear or powers that be.
VAERS — An Important Resource for Vaccine Safety Monitoring
The Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) serves as an important tool for monitoring the safety of vaccines in the U.S. Established in 1990, VAERS is a national early warning system, co-managed by the CDC and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), to detect possible safety issues with vaccines.25
The system allows healthcare providers, vaccine manufacturers and the general public to submit reports of adverse events that occur after vaccination. Anyone can access and search the VAERS database, which includes information such as the type of vaccine administered, the timing of the adverse event and a description of the reported symptoms.
For parents considering whether to vaccinate their child, reviewing VAERS data can be part of the process of making an informed decision. For easy access, see OpenVaers.com.26
- 1, 2, 4, 5, 6 CDC, New Findings on Vaccination Coverage and Exemptions Among Kindergartners (2023-2024 School Year)
- 3 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Healthy People 2030 – Vaccination Objectives
- 7 AP News, October 3, 2024
- 8 Sci Transl Med. 2018 Mar 21;10(433):eaao5945
- 9 Science, March 21, 2018
- 10 Current Opinion in Virology Volume 40, February 2020, Pages 48-54
- 11 Vaccine. 2021 May 27;39(23):3120-3130
- 12 American Academy of Pediatrics, June 10, 2019
- 13 Pediatrics (2016) 137 (3): e20153326
- 14 CMAJ November 01, 2016 188 (16) E399-E406
- 15 SAGE Open Med. 2020 May 27;8:2050312120925344
- 16 NewportRI.com March 21, 2019
- 17 Journal of Public Health and Epidemiology September 2014: 6(9); 271-286 (PDF)
- 18 Children’s Health Defense, August 11, 2020
- 19 Australian Academy of Science, What Is in a Vaccine?
- 20 Dtsch Arztebl Int. 2017 Sep 29;114(39):653–659
- 21 EFSA J. 2008 Jul 15;6(7):754
- 22 Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(8), 7228
- 23 SciTechDaily.com, January 21, 2020
- 24 Toxics. 2021 Jun 17;9(6):142
- 25 CDC, August 7, 2024
- 26 OpenVaers
Five Things New “Preppers” Forget When Getting Ready for Bad Times Ahead
The preparedness community is growing faster than it has in decades. Even during peak times such as Y2K, the economic downturn of 2008, and Covid, the vast majority of Americans made sure they had plenty of toilet paper but didn’t really stockpile anything else.
Things have changed. There’s a growing anxiety in this presidential election year that has prompted more Americans to get prepared for crazy events in the future. Some of it is being driven by fearmongers, but there are valid concerns with the economy, food supply, pharmaceuticals, the energy grid, and mass rioting that have pushed average Americans into “prepper” mode.
There are degrees of preparedness. One does not have to be a full-blown “doomsday prepper” living off-grid in a secure Montana bunker in order to be ahead of the curve. In many ways, preparedness isn’t about being able to perfectly handle every conceivable situation. It’s about being less dependent on government for as long as possible. Those who have proper “preps” will not be waiting for FEMA to distribute emergency supplies to the desperate masses.
Below are five things people new to preparedness (and sometimes even those with experience) often forget as they get ready. All five are common sense notions that do not rely on doomsday in order to be useful. It may be nice to own a tank during the apocalypse but there’s not much you can do with it until things get really crazy. The recommendations below can have places in the lives of average Americans whether doomsday comes or not.
Note: The information provided by this publication or any related communications is for informational purposes only and should not be considered as financial advice. We do not provide personalized investment, financial, or legal advice.
Secured Wealth
Whether in the bank or held in a retirement account, most Americans feel that their life’s savings is relatively secure. At least they did until the last couple of years when de-banking, geopolitical turmoil, and the threat of Central Bank Digital Currencies reared their ugly heads.
It behooves Americans to diversify their holdings. If there’s a triggering event or series of events that cripple the financial systems or devalue the U.S. Dollar, wealth can evaporate quickly. To hedge against potential turmoil, many Americans are looking in two directions: Crypto and physical precious metals.
There are huge advantages to cryptocurrencies, but there are also inherent risks because “virtual” money can become challenging to spend. Add in the push by central banks and governments to regulate or even replace cryptocurrencies with their own versions they control and the risks amplify. There’s nothing wrong with cryptocurrencies today but things can change rapidly.
As for physical precious metals, many Americans pay cash to keep plenty on hand in their safe. Rolling over or transferring retirement accounts into self-directed IRAs is also a popular option, but there are caveats. It can often take weeks or even months to get the gold and silver shipped if the owner chooses to close their account. This is why Genesis Gold Group stands out. Their relationship with the depositories allows for rapid closure and shipping, often in less than 10 days from the time the account holder makes their move. This can come in handy if things appear to be heading south.
Lots of Potable Water
One of the biggest shocks that hit new preppers is understanding how much potable water they need in order to survive. Experts claim one gallon of water per person per day is necessary. Even the most conservative estimates put it at over half-a-gallon. That means that for a family of four, they’ll need around 120 gallons of water to survive for a month if the taps turn off and the stores empty out.
Being near a fresh water source, whether it’s a river, lake, or well, is a best practice among experienced preppers. It’s necessary to have a water filter as well, even if the taps are still working. Many refuse to drink tap water even when there is no emergency. Berkey was our previous favorite but they’re under attack from regulators so the Alexapure systems are solid replacements.
For those in the city or away from fresh water sources, storage is the best option. This can be challenging because proper water storage containers take up a lot of room and are difficult to move if the need arises. For “bug in” situations, having a larger container that stores hundreds or even thousands of gallons is better than stacking 1-5 gallon containers. Unfortunately, they won’t be easily transportable and they can cost a lot to install.
Water is critical. If chaos erupts and water infrastructure is compromised, having a large backup supply can be lifesaving.
Pharmaceuticals and Medical Supplies
There are multiple threats specific to the medical supply chain. With Chinese and Indian imports accounting for over 90% of pharmaceutical ingredients in the United States, deteriorating relations could make it impossible to get the medicines and antibiotics many of us need.
Stocking up many prescription medications can be hard. Doctors generally do not like to prescribe large batches of drugs even if they are shelf-stable for extended periods of time. It is a best practice to ask your doctor if they can prescribe a larger amount. Today, some are sympathetic to concerns about pharmacies running out or becoming inaccessible. Tell them your concerns. It’s worth a shot. The worst they can do is say no.
If your doctor is unwilling to help you stock up on medicines, then Jase Medical is a good alternative. Through telehealth, they can prescribe daily meds or antibiotics that are shipped to your door. As proponents of medical freedom, they empathize with those who want to have enough medical supplies on hand in case things go wrong.
Energy Sources
The vast majority of Americans are locked into the grid. This has proven to be a massive liability when the grid goes down. Unfortunately, there are no inexpensive remedies.
Those living off-grid had to either spend a lot of money or effort (or both) to get their alternative energy sources like solar set up. For those who do not want to go so far, it’s still a best practice to have backup power sources. Diesel generators and portable solar panels are the two most popular, and while they’re not inexpensive they are not out of reach of most Americans who are concerned about being without power for extended periods of time.
Natural gas is another necessity for many, but that’s far more challenging to replace. Having alternatives for heating and cooking that can be powered if gas and electric grids go down is important. Have a backup for items that require power such as manual can openers. If you’re stuck eating canned foods for a while and all you have is an electric opener, you’ll have problems.
Don’t Forget the Protein
When most think about “prepping,” they think about their food supply. More Americans are turning to gardening and homesteading as ways to produce their own food. Others are working with local farmers and ranchers to purchase directly from the sources. This is a good idea whether doomsday comes or not, but it’s particularly important if the food supply chain is broken.
Most grocery stores have about one to two weeks worth of food, as do most American households. Grocers rely heavily on truckers to receive their ongoing shipments. In a crisis, the current process can fail. It behooves Americans for multiple reasons to localize their food purchases as much as possible.
Long-term storage is another popular option. Canned foods, MREs, and freeze dried meals are selling out quickly even as prices rise. But one component that is conspicuously absent in shelf-stable food is high-quality protein. Most survival food companies offer low quality “protein buckets” or cans of meat, but they are often barely edible.
Prepper All-Naturals offers premium cuts of steak that have been cooked sous vide and freeze dried to give them a 25-year shelf life. They offer Ribeye, NY Strip, and Tenderloin among others.
Having buckets of beans and rice is a good start, but keeping a solid supply of high-quality protein isn’t just healthier. It can help a family maintain normalcy through crises.
Prepare Without Fear
With all the challenges we face as Americans today, it can be emotionally draining. Citizens are scared and there’s nothing irrational about their concerns. Being prepared and making lifestyle changes to secure necessities can go a long way toward overcoming the fears that plague us. We should hope and pray for the best but prepare for the worst. And if the worst does come, then knowing we did what we could to be ready for it will help us face those challenges with confidence.
