Five surprising moments in vaccine history

For this extra credit assignment, I chose Anna Rothschild’s article Five surprising moments in vaccine history. Anna Rothschild is a former Washington Post journalist who specializes in science and health topics. She was also the current producer for the YouTube channel Gross Science which created animations about biology for kids and museums, and Anna’s Science Magic Show Hooray which answered scientific questions from the public. This article explains the history of vaccines in three videos, with each answering questions or myths that many have about how vaccines work and are made.  

Summaries

The first video explained how vaccines actually work and debunk public myths about vaccinations. While some anti-vaxxers might believe that vaccines actually make you sick, vaccines can give you a very mild form of the disease for the body to build up antibodies. In the 1700s, this was called variolation, where doctors would purposefully inject the patient with the disease with a thread through an open wound. With the rise of smallpox a couple hundred years ago, variolation became popular amongst others and was considered the first form of vaccination against a disease. Today, smallpox is actually the only infectious disease that has been fully eradicated as it needs a host to survive. Those who are against vaccines can sometimes be misguided about how vaccines work, advocate for their own civil liberties, or stand for religious reasons.

In the second video, Rothschild attempts to explain the ingredients in vaccines and how they are made. First, they used horses to harvest antibodies, which were then used in vaccines for humans. Today, instead of using the disease for the body to produce antibodies and fight the disease (toxins), we use toxoids, which are usually weaker or dead versions of the germ. That way, humans are less exposed to the symptoms of the disease itself or the aftermath of taking the vaccine. Not only are toxoids used, but also nanoparticle technology and the ability to produce vaccination without using toxoids. The public may also be concerned about the level of additives that are used in producing vaccines, for example, aluminum, formaldehyde, or thimerosal are all ingredients that are used in creating vaccinations. While these additives are in the vaccine in small amounts, Rothschild explains that the body absorbs the ingredients fast and leaves no time for any aftereffects.  

The third and final video explains how vaccines are considered to be safe for the public. Vaccines are first tested in animals and then voluntarily tested in human trials in batches of volunteers/people. The FDA will license the vaccine after three rounds of testing according to the riskiness and speed of the spread of the disease. She also begins to debunk a myth that the measles vaccine causes autism and that it was based off of only one paper that was published. In terms of families and protecting children from disease through vaccines, she explains that it is important to consistently protect yourself and/or your children from diseases, which is why children and babies usually get many vaccines at once.

Critical Thinking 

When thinking about what constitutes critical thinking, there are three aspects that we mainly went over in class: a respect for language, respect for fact, and respect for established branches of knowledge. Rothschild hits all these three key points of critical thinking within her videos: 

1. Respect for language: Rothschild is very clear in the way she presents her information. Her detailed outlining of historical information in the first video was well-informed. All three videos used language that was easy for the viewer to understand and comprehend a complex topic, on a simple level.

2. Respect for fact: In all three of her videos, Rothschild conducted interviews with other experts of their respective fields to back up her claims. When receiving expert opinions on information, they heighten the author's validity and credibility for his/her assertions.

3. Respect for established branches of knowledge: The topic of vaccines and vaccinations, especially due to the COVID-19 epidemic, has immense importance over the general population, humanity, and health. She fully captured the history of vaccines, the social aspect of vaccinations, and the biological makeup of vaccines in each of her three videos.

My Key Takeaways

These three videos actually came in on funny timing. I will be working in the healthcare field later this summer and part of my onboarding process was learning about vaccinations. The doctors and nurses that I have encountered all talked about how vaccines work and why they are important. I think that these three videos have not only solidified my beliefs surrounding this topic, but also uncovered how there are many other aspects at play. Religion, civil liberties, and the protection of children are all other perspectives people might have when considering vaccinations for themselves or their children. I believe that an important aspect of critical thinking is not only thinking on your own, but in the viewpoints of others. In certain cases that myself or others might be misinformed about a topic, it is vital to explain clearly through facts and reasoning to alleviate these misunderstandings and form better judgements.