vaccines

When I was a kid, I was given the full vaccination schedule. Measles, mumps, rubella, diptheria, tetanus, the whole nine yards. I actually have many vivid memories of my mother taking me to the health department, where she got the vaccines for free. All the nurses there were very nice, though I was always afraid because of the needles and such.

My most vivid memory is of my oral polio vaccine. I had a very sensitive gag reflex, which was a bad combination. After the nice nurse in the burnt orange scrubs shoved the oral vaccine down my throat, I promptly vomited on her cheap scrub top. Luckily I'm sure she had plenty of clearance scrubs, but I felt bad!

When I grew up, I lived overseas for a time and saw people dying from the same diseases against which I was vaccinated. That's why I just don't understand why some parents refuse vaccination. There is no reason to allow people to die of these totally preventable diseases when you have the option of getting a vaccination. No reason whatsoever!