Yeah... and I have technically been vaccinated against anthrax (for real).
The problem with many vaccines is that they do not work practically. LOL
1. They often do not offer life long protection (short duration).
2. Some like the early forms of anthrax vaccines I received (the old 5 shot series) have serious side effects.
3. Many vaccines only have a “probability” of being effective, i.e. that your immune system actually begins providing the desired protection.
4. There are ~320,000 viruses that affect mammals, and many such as the flu alone is about 1,000 various viruses. They basically just guess what virus it will be and give you the vaccine, and they often guess wrong. With the flu they guess wrong about 30% of the time.
5. Often when the vaccine is administered, it’s to late, i.e. the person has already been exposed and will get it anyway.
There are many variables.
I know this is America and we believe in a technological solution to everything. We don’t want to fix ourselves or actually deal with the problems at hand and would rather just throw money at every problem. And of course there is always a politician and business offering a magic pill, may it be scanners at airports after 9-11, hardening our facilities after HRC sat on her hands in Benghazi, more computers and textbooks as our schools fail, pills for fat people that eat bad and don’t exercise (most diabetes, high blood pressure, cholesterol gout and gird)... America has ALWAYS had a snake oil salesman offering a solution. Reality don’t work like that and of course we still have Islamic terrorism right here in the US even with our idiotic body scanners at airports, the schools didn’t get any better even with massive spending on computers and new textbooks, and ultimately the obese will still fall apart and eventually end up with much more severe medical problems. The same is true with vaccines. Yes, they are good, they have a purpose and they can help, but they are no “magical fix.”
So you mean I have to get another 2-second shot one or more years later to massively lower my risk of death? Oh well suddenly it doesn't seem worth it! /s
"2. Some like the early forms of anthrax vaccines I received (the old 5 shot series) have serious side effects."
Side effects from vaccines are less than one in a million. Literally, that's it. The vaccine injury compensation fund will pay out anyone who can provide a reasonable accusation of harm from a vaccine. There is no need to prove you were actually injured. There is no need to have a medically sound trail of evidence. You simply make a reasonable claim of injury and they pay you a 6-figure payout. And even with that insanely low bar and huge payday, they pay out about 1 time per million vaccination shots.
"3. Many vaccines only have a “probability” of being effective, i.e. that your immune system actually begins providing the desired protection."
And many are at or near 100% effective. Still, take the Influenza vaccine: on a good year it'll be 50% effective, thanks to the fast mutation rates of the viruses involved. That's still 50% fewer people who have to get infected before herd immunity is achieved. And that's ~50% fewer deaths. Considering Influenza kills 37,000 people per year on average in the US, that little shot is saving tens of thousands of lives in the US each year. For a 2-second shot your insurance covers 100%.
"We don’t want to fix ourselves or actually deal with the problems at hand and would rather just throw money at every problem."
Vaccines ARE fixing ourselves and actually dealing with the problem at hand. Vaccines are why parents in the US today aren't terrified of polio crippling or killing their kids. They're why millions of us are still alive instead of dead from smallpox. They're why we no longer have huge hospital wings filled with iron lungs. You get a handful of shots and your life expectancy suddenly spikes way up. Seems like a darn good deal to me.