In The Politics of Autism, I analyze the discredited notion that vaccines cause autism. This bogus idea can hurt people by allowing diseases to spread. And among those diseases could be COVID-19.
Nancy Fellmeth at The Sacramento Bee:
My 30-year-old son, Chris, who lives with autism and was not caught up with his childhood vaccines, asked for the COVID vaccine when we got there. He was disappointed that he wasn’t in the right age group at that time and couldn’t get it.
Later, he had the opportunity to get the vaccine through the nonprofit We Embrace. In getting the vaccine, he felt like he became part of something bigger than himself, and that mattered to him.
After questioning other vaccines for years, I had a friend who participated in an early Moderna COVID vaccine trial, and I witnessed a concern for safety that upended my previous assumptions. Now I’m part of a vaccine side effects study that’s still following me six months after my second dose. It’s clear to me that those behind the vaccine care deeply about any effects that could show up months later.
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The pandemic led me to believe that we should tip in favor of the community over the individual. The COVID vaccines, combined with social distancing and masks, are an opportunity for everyone to work together to get our lives back to a sense of normal.
