Just goes to show you that not everyone becomes anti-vaccination due to misinformation, junk science, lies, and good old-fashioned willing ignorance. Vaccinate your kids. I’m not one to speak for your children, but I think they probably don’t want measles and polio.
This week also saw some new readers joining the fold. To you newcomers: welcome! I hope you stay for future laughs.
And hey, we’re getting closer to the top 100. Keep voting!
By Otaku Mon Mar 16th 2015 at 2:05 am
Comic: Funny
Political Commentary: Not so much
Even with a seemingly simple issue like this, it sets a potentially nasty precedent. I can’t tell if its a joke in poor taste or if you’re actually shoving an issue in tangentially. If it is the former, sorry I didn’t get the joke. I’ve spent way too much time explaining to ignorant but well meaning people why the recent issue was a smokescreen over more pressing issues and that half the ones insulting me for a position I don’t even hold didn’t realize that position was more common among their political bedfellows than mine. -_-
By zappitcomic Mon Mar 16th 2015 at 2:55 am
The only thing I was really saying was that a crocodile doctor bearing a syringe might turn a kid off the idea of vaccinations. But yeah, I do feel strongly about vaccines, and that rejecting them is bringing back preventable diseases.
By Otaku Mon Mar 16th 2015 at 4:24 am
This is your web comic. Do you want it to become a place of potentially heated discussion over such matters? You might and if you do that is your right. I want to make sure that is your intention though. Of secondary concern is this actual topic; the only reason I am not current on my own vaccinations is a lack of funds (I need to see what I can do about that).
What is more likely to bring back preventable illness? Having a small percentage of the population that is behind (or intentionally refusing) vaccines in a country where such disease are exceedingly rare… or recent actions that brought a lot of people who come from poorer countries outside of the U.S. into our borders without quarantine or getting them caught up on their own vaccines? Countries that sometimes still struggle with these diseases? Notice how that also brings us from one potential top topic issue to another.
Me? I came here to enjoy more of Meat’s vacation. =/ I’m not against discussing such issues; actually I think people need to discuss such things more; the “anti-vaccination” crowd was a distraction from more serious concerns. Maybe you wouldn’t want to pursue such a dialog with me, maybe you would; I am just questioning it being (wait for it…) injected into the comments section below your strip.
By Otaku Mon Mar 16th 2015 at 4:47 am
Apologies; I noticed a typo in my previous comment that I wasn’t sure I could ignore (and am unaware of any way to edit a previous comment here): “Notice how that also brings us from one potential top topic issue to another.” should instead read “Notice how that also brings us from one potential hot button topic to another.” Yes, not only did I manage to type “top” instead of “hot”, but I left “button” out entirely.
By zappitcomic Mon Mar 16th 2015 at 10:44 am
I get what you’re saying, and it’s a fair point. I didn’t want to bring politics into the comments section. I just offered a bit of a PSA on a topic that really shouldn’t need one.
And Otaku, I hope your financial situation improves, bud.
By Otaku Mon Mar 16th 2015 at 10:20 pm
Just because I find it funny, I will share that I have been down with a bad cold for the last week and was worrying it might be leading to bronchitis (its not). So I went in to get looked at today and though its rather late I did go ahead and get my flu shot. Coupled with this back and forth (and even the joke about Doc Croc – I hated needles until about middle school and since then, they don’t bother me as much)… it just struck me as kind of humorous. XP
By Actual Public Health Professional Mon Mar 16th 2015 at 4:15 pm
Immigrants are less of a problem than self-righteous but misinformed people refusing to vaccinate their kids. Partly because the US is *REALLY GOOD* at vaccinating kids in other countries, and partly because we are specifically on the lookout for immigrants and engage them when they enter the country. If you’re concerned about illegal immigrants, most of those are Mexican, and Mexico has good childhood immunization (99% in 2012).
People being stupid in this country wouldn’t matter (as much) if they weren’t doing it all in one place, because Herd Immunity protects us all from a small handful of people missing their vaccinations, if they’re spread out. But in these communities where large numbers of parents choose not to vaccinate, you get outbreaks.
Anyways, funny comic.
Also, I didn’t really see that a joke about a Croc Pediatrician had anything to do with vaccination. The text below seemed like more of a PSA, which I’m down with.
Vaccinate your kids.
By Jens Mon Mar 23rd 2015 at 11:43 pm
Uh no, herd immunity doesn’t protect us, it protects the poeple who don’t vaccinate.
If they get a few outbreaks, maybe they’ll actually see why we vaccinate, and that it actually works.
Fun note though, a swedish doctor recently won a case in a german court of law.
A german “doctor” of alternative medicine had put up a prize of something like 150K US dollars for anyone who could conclusively prove the existance of the measles virus.
Which the swedish doc did, but the alternative man didn’t think it was good enough.
The courts disagreed on that and said that it was actually irrefutable evidence of the existance of the measles virus and that he now owed the swedish doctor some money.
It was said that he’ll appeal the case, doubt that’ll work though….
By Jens Mon Mar 23rd 2015 at 11:50 pm
Here’s a link to an article about it.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2993099/Biologist-does-not-believe-measles-exists-offered-100-000-euros-proved-wrong-ordered-judge-hand-cash-German-doctor-sent-medical-study.html
If the link doesn’t work or it goes away and someone reads this post in a few years, search for the names “Stefan Lanka” and “David Bardens”.
No, the real issue with those who don’t believe in vaccines and refuse to do it, is that it means the virus will still exist.
Because if you do vaccinate everyone against a disease, and I do mean everyone, then that disease will cease to exist unless it can find a non-human host to survive in.
And when you hit that stage, then noone needs to be vaccinated against anymore.
TBC is a good example of that, a huge problem a few decades ago but got vaccinated out of existence in the western world so now they don’t vaccinate it anymore.
And it’s a good example because there has popped up a problem with it, namely that it is once more starting to appear in the western world, coming with immigrants from less developed countries where the vaccinations didn’t reach the entire population.
By Puck Sat Jul 10th 2021 at 10:18 pm
Oh my GOD reading this thread now is such an experience
By Sabreur Mon Mar 16th 2015 at 5:12 pm
Relax, he didn’t put the commentary in the comic itself. Besides, he’s mocking anti-vaxxers, so it’s not like he’s mocking actual people. 😉
By RazorD9 Mon Mar 16th 2015 at 7:53 am
What’s up Doc?
Doc Croc might want to reconsider his career path.
Great comic!
By CTNC Mon Mar 16th 2015 at 1:54 pm
I wish you said “What’s up Croc?”
By Sabreur Mon Mar 16th 2015 at 5:09 pm
So that’s how needle phobias get started…
By Tre Mon Mar 16th 2015 at 8:51 pm
I can’t say I understand why vaccination is still even a thing that is under debate. Part of the reason disease is so low in this country is partly because of vaccination. You get them, they help protect you from a mess of nasty diseases. They work by giving your immune system a heads up on the things you could come in contact with.
By McRunty Wed Mar 18th 2015 at 4:52 pm
Damn, all caught up on the archives. Now have to wait for updates like everyone else 🙁
By Ursula Wed Jun 22nd 2016 at 7:42 pm
Do you realize that Dr. Stefan Lanka WON the appeal, as the judge had to admit that all the ‘proofs’ the virus exists aren’t proving anything? In fact, not a single virus has ever been proven to exist, and not a single vaccine in all of history has ever been proven to be either safe or effective. None work, and all do harm.
Vaccines wreck the immune system, which otherwise, if strengthened with good food and a clean lifestyle, could fight just about anything.
By Zappit Wed Jun 22nd 2016 at 9:16 pm
Googled it, and couldn’t find anything from a reliable news source that stated he won an appeal. Vaccines train the immune system to develop antibodies, which are essentially silver bullets against invading pathogens. Do they harm the body? That’s not the intent, nor is there any serious proof that they do cause significant harm. The occasional allergy to an ingredient is the exception, not the rule.
Viruses don’t work the same as bacteria, which can be killed by antibiotics. Viruses, in fact, don’t even behave like other life-forms. They exist as an RNA strand encased in a protein shell, and inject that RNA into healthy cells, taking over the nucleus and forcing the cell to create copies of the virus until the cell ruptures and dies, unleashing many new viruses to infect other cells. Drugs simply cannot kill that, and the human body must use its natural defenses to fend it off.
They don’t work? Smallpox is gone. Polio was all but gone, as was measles, but both started making comebacks in recent years, coincidentally with the rise of the anti-vaccination movement. There are hundreds of strains of the flu, but the vaccine can only accommodate roughly five. The global scientific community cooperates to predict the most likely variants to be dominate that year. That’s why it’s not always very effective. Sometimes they predict incorrectly. Viruses also mutate fairly regularly, which is why HIV is so difficult to develop a vaccine for.
Your natural immune system is your only real defense against viruses, and it needs to produce antibodies to fight those invaders. If you lack the ability to do that, the virus wins. The Spanish brought smallpox to the America’s, and a native population with no immunities to what was a completely foreign disease had no chance. In fifty years, the native population of South America went from an estimated 11 million to about 2-3 million. That was not all the viciously cruel slavery and wars. The disease did the vast majority of the killing.
Besides, the courts aren’t exactly the place where real science gets recognized. The Scopes Monkey trial. The Italian seismologists who were jailed because they could not predict an earthquake. Galileo jailed for his theories. During hearings on DNA patents, the Supreme Court justices famously struggled with the scientific concepts under discussion, with Scalia admitting he simply didn’t understand the science. The courts are hardly the best place to settle science. You don’t go to the auto dealer to get your taxes done. The many years of testing, the overwhelming evidence gathered by studying the results of vaccine distribution, and the elimination and suppression of what were once widespread viruses all suggest that not only do vaccines benefit the community at large, they have a serious impact on improving a person’s health. There’s nothing that will convince me otherwise.
By Poetically Psychotic Thu Jan 18th 2018 at 2:04 pm
Well said.
By Halan Lore Sun Sep 20th 2020 at 3:31 pm
Hey I’m gonna congratulate you. It seems obvious that vaccines are generally helpful but people seem to need that reminder. Thank you.
I also enjoyed the actual needle joke.