GAW:
“The problem is that there is nothing to discuss.”
“They are “true believers”, who similar to missionaries, are not interested in hearing the truth.”
if that is what you think a priori, and if you assume that I have never asked medical counsel or that I have seen a quack, I am sorry that I can’t help your narrow-mindedness. By the way you do not even know so far which vaccinations we declined.
“P.S. If you don’t vaccinate your children, I’m interested to hear why not. (Also I’d like to make sure that no one in my family has any contact with you or your children).”
“Not really. I don’t think I asked for such personal information from a complete stranger.”
Which one of the two?
“As I said before, Tetanus+ (TDAP?) & Polio are the biggies. MMR is also important, as those diseases can hurt pregnant women. After that, if you don’t want to take flu or Chicken pox vaccine (and certainly HPV), I have no Tayainos.”
Those who receive Sabin Polio should be aware that live virus is present and thus avoid contact with immunodepressed people and people not (or not yet) vaccinated for a few days after each dose. I agree with you on the rest, except for your glaring omission of arguably the most important vaccine for travelers and for people in contact with travelers: yellow fever. Polio is by now very rare even in remote countryside areas in the third world: yellow fever, which is more serious than polio, is endemic even in urban areas and due to globalization can occasionally be encountered anywhere.
Now, if you tell me you don’t ever travel outside NYC or at most you go to NJ, and that you rarely have reason to contact travelers to Asia or Africa, that is a good reason for skipping yellow fever vaccine. As you see, good reasons for declining potentially life-savings vaccinations exist. You are proof of it.
I can not agree with the point you make with regards to herd immunity. A child or an elderly or even a young person who can not be vaccinated (due to serious diseases such as cancer, or being a transplant recipient) is a person whose health and even life are threatened even by a trivial cold, for which there is no vaccination available at present. Anyone who has any cold-like symptoms should temporarily stay away from that person.