ha
@Maddy, your well-written post deserves a response:
Fair enough. I guess they put their trust in institutions like the CDC, and bodies of researchers, not practicing physicians. But if that deflates my "overwhelming consensus", I understand.How many doctors have the time to pour through the multitude of peer reviewed studies in each of the fields that might possibly bear upon the advice they give to patients?
All of science is replacing wrong with right as best we can. Luckily, children's health does not depend on how old a certain species of human is, or when it arrived in a particular location. (An example of something that changes every few years).And, finally, even the most intelligent, well-versed doctors often disagree when it comes to risk-to-benefit analyses. Take, for example, the hormone replacement therapy debate. The experts have gone back and forth on that how many times now?
Bottom line is what MangoMan said. Public health. No matter what reservations or misgivings one may have about doctors, human limitations, imperfections, what we do know is that outbreaks like this happen when a critical mass goes unprotected. We hear from JacksonM, Xan, Stuper essentially the same chorus, I'm wary of this and that, but my kids are vaccinated because... Maybe there's someone out there I missed who doesn't vaccinate or is hesitant to say so.
Let's say this has been a debate about whether or not parents should be free to exempt their kids from vaccination and still send them to public school. Let's now say there are nationwide exemptions for everyone who wants, no questions asked. How many of you will opt out?