����vlog

HISTORY, TO SEE WHY THERE’S STILL SO MUCH SKEPTICISM TODAY. REPORTER: IN THE MIDST OF A PANDEMIC, WE HAVE TWO VACCINES THAT SCIENTISTS SAY ARE SAFE AND 95% EFFECTIVE AGAINST THE CORONAVIRUS. A VIRUS NOW RESPONSIBLE FOR MORE THAN 300,000 DEATHS IN OUR COUNTRY. YET, 3 OUT OF 10 AMERICANS SAY THEY WON’T TAKE THE VACCINE IT HAD US WONDERING WHAT COULD BE BEHIND THAT FEAR, TO GO AGAINST THE MOST MODERN SCIENC SO WE WENT TO THE HISTORY BOOKS, AND THE FIRST ANSWER IS RELATIVELY RECENT. >> ABOUT 20 YEARS, AGO A STUDY WAS PUBLISHED INDICATING THAT MEASLES, MUMPS AND RUBELLA VACCINE WAS LINKED TO AUTISM. TODD: THAT’S RIGHT A PUBLISHED STUDY LINKING VACCINES TO KIDS DEVELOPING AUTISM. 10 YEARS LATER THAT STUDY WAS DEBUNKED. PROVEN FALSE AGAIN AND AGAIN MODERN MEDICINE SAYING THERE IS NO SUCH LINK. >> UNFORTUNATELY THE MYTHOLOGY IT CREATED PERSISTS EVEN TODAY, CAUSING MISTRUST OF VACCINES WHEN IN FACT THERE WAS NO EVIDENCE FOR THE ASSOCIATION THAT WAS ASSERTE TODD: VACCINES HAVE BEEN AROUND FOR CENTURIES. IN OUR WESTERN CULTURE THE FIRST KNOWN VACCINE WAS IN 1796. TRYING TO FIND A CURE FOR SMALL POX. ACCORDING TO ARTICLES ON THE NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH, THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT STARTED ITS FIRST VACCINE PROGRAM IN 1813. BUT A DOCTOR MADE A TRAGIC ERROR IN 1822 AND CAUSED SEVERAL DEATHS. CONGRESS IMMEDIATELY STOPPED THE PROGRAM. >> YES, VERY REGRETTABLY THERE HAVE BEEN CIRCUMSTANCES THAT HAVE LED TO SOME HAR TODD: BUT THE STUDIES ON VACCINES CONTINUED, BECAUSE THE FEW CASES OF HARM DID NOT COMPARE TO HOW MANY LIVES WERE LOST TO INFECTIOUS DISEASES. IN THE YEAR 1900 NEARLY ONE-THIRD OF ALL DEATHS WERE CHILDREN UNDER 5. >> IN THE 20TH CENTURY LIFE SP INCREASED FROM THE MID 40S TO UPPER 70 YEARS OF AGE ON AVERAGE - AND THAT WAS DRIVEN BY TWO MAJOR PUBLIC HEALTH IMPROVEMENTS AND THOSE WERE VACCINES AND CLEAN DRINKING WATER. TODD: THERE WERE SETBACKS, EVEN IN THE MID TO LATER 1900S, THERE ARE REPORTS OF PEOPLE CONTRACTING A DISEASE FROM THE VACCINE GIVEN TO PROTECT THEM. REMEMBER HISTORICALLY A VACCINE WAS A WEAKENED OR KILLED BACTERIA OF THE DISEASE. THEY SHOOT THAT IN YOU AND YOU BODY THEN KNOWS HOW TO FIGHT O SMALL POX, MEASLES, ETC. BUT THERE WAS STILL RISK PEOPLE WOULD CONTRACT THE DISEASE FROM THAT VACCINE. NOT THE CASE ANYMORE. OUR TECHNOLOGY HAS GONE PA THAT. WE CAN USE THE GENES OF A PARTICULAR AGENT AND CREATE COMMUNITIES THAT THE VACCINE ITSELF DOES NOT RUN. TODD: HE SAID THE IMPROVEMENTS ARE NOT JUST WITH THE VACCINE, BUT ALSO THE REGULATION. THERE’S OVERSIGHT OF PRODUCTION, TESTING, AND MARKETING NOW DAYS. MODERNA’S VACCINE WAS ACTUALLY CREATED BEFORE COVID CASES EVEN POPPED UP IN THE U.S., BUT IT TOOK UNTIL NOW TO GET APPROVAL, EVEN AS HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS WERE DYING, THAT’S HOW STRINGENT THE PROCESS HAS BECOME. SO THE HISTORY OF VACCINES SHOWS HARM DONE AND DOCTORS AGREE IT’S TRAGIC IN EVERY INSTANCE, BUT THEY ARGUE THE BENEFIT TO THE MASSES IS MUCH MORE SIGNIFICANT. SO WITH VACCINES BEING RIGHT UP THERE WITH THE IMPORTANCE OF CLEAN WATER, I ASKED DR. SALVON-HARMAN TO SUM UP THE POWER OF THIS TOOL >> THERE ARE CURRENTLY 26 VACCINE PREVENTABLE DISEASES, DISEASES THAT WE NO LONGER SEE ON A DAY-TO-DAY BASIS THAT AR GRANDP