In the article How the Anti-Vaxxers Are Winning, Paul J. Hotez reveals that there has been an increase in children not getting vaccinated, which will bring devastating effects. Paul J. Hotez is a pediatrician at Baylor College of Medicine, and also a director of the Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, which explains that his argument is very valid through his experience.
Geared toward an audience of people who are against vaccinations, Hotez is able to expose the harrowing truths about this issue in order to show that not vaccinating your children is illogical. Relating to his hometown of Texas, Hotez states that “as of last fall, more than 45,000 children here had received nonmedical exemptions for their school vaccinations.” He is able to show the true facts that this issue is increasing and becoming more prominent is places like his own hometown. He goes on to explain that many people believe that vaccinations do cause autism which is a major reason why these numbers are increasing. Hotez refutes this idea when he says that “the American Academy of Pediatrics has produced a 21-page document listing all of the studies clearly showing there is no link between vaccines and autism, in addition to more recent epidemiological studies involving hundreds of thousands of children or pregnant women that also refute any association.” Through the use of yet another bold fact, he is able to show just how illogical “anti-vaxxers” think. He even goes on to reveal a harrowing truth that could leave an emotional feeling to those exact readers when he says, “Today, parents in Texas have to live in fear that something as simple as a trip to the mall or the library could expose their babies to measles and that a broader outbreak could occur.” By showing that people don’t vaccinate their own children, he is able to expose their decisions and how that directly can negatively affect other people’s families. Ending with this horrible truth can leave an emotional appeal to readers and really leave them thinking about their own opinions on vaccinations.
In my opinion, Paul J. Hotez successfully refutes “anti-vaxxers” opinions and made my opinion on vaccinations even stronger than it already was. I believe that not vaccinating your children due to the pseudoscience of vaccinations leading to autism is extremely irrational and quite idiotic. Not only can it harm other people, but it can create an outbreak that could have been prevented from one tiny little shot.
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