The chatter about shots (not using words that get censored) ebbs and flows, but there’s part of the conversation that often leads me to face-palm myself. I’ll break it down for you so you can see where I’m coming from.
Shots don’t actually keep viruses from landing on your or getting into your cells. Just like systemic flea and tick chemicals (so gross – don’t use those) don’t actually keep fleas and ticks from jumping on your pet. They just, theoretically, keep them from hanging around.
If person A (got a shot) and person B (no shot) are at the grocery store and they both get sneezed on by infected person C, this is what happens:
Virus particles (these things are so small, you can fit thousands of them inside of one bacterium) get into the nasal cavity of persons A and B and get inhaled into the lungs. Here they weave themselves into the DNA of the cells of persons A and B and the virus starts to make copies of itself and sends copies to infect other cells. Someone who is “immune”, their body recognizes this virus and starts to tag and kill the infected cells – until either the virus wins, or the immune system does.
Now if Person A is theoretically immune from a shot, that doesn’t mean that they didn’t have a bunch of viruses replicating in their body. It doesn’t mean that they weren’t equally as contagious as Person B for a period of time. There is a period of time where they are equally contagious despite their shot status.
That being said, Person A may have gotten an old strain of the shot which is not similar enough to the one from the grocery store and that shot may not provide any benefit. Person B may have actually been exposed to the virus at the grocery store last week and their bad-ass immune system already built up an arsenal to kick said virus’ molecular hiney and Person B might be the one who won’t develop symptoms.
Whenever you make a choice to put something in your (or your child’s/pet’s) body, you should know the risks as well as the potential benefits so that you can make an informed decision about whether or not to participate.
When a shot is recommended, ask for a copy of the insert or download it from the manufacturer’s website. Do an online search for each ingredient followed by “MSDS” (Material Safety Data Sheet) and read about the potential hazards of the ingredients.
You can obtain a short list through the government by going here.
Here’s a 20-minute mini-class on the immune system. I hope you enjoy it!