Safe and Effective
The Maundy Monday Newsletter - This Week in History April 7 - 13.
The United States has a fundamental misunderstanding of how vaccines work. I, too, get most of this wrong. But thank goodness for both of us, we have Okay History to educate each other.
Recent news from Texas over the last month has been that The Measles announced a reunion tour, accompanied by a breakthrough album, for which the unvaccinated would have exclusive rights.
The road manager for the whirlwind experience is none other than the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services.
Robert Kennedy Jr., who is not a doctor and has no formal medical training, wrote an op-ed and went on Fox News and told everyone that The Measles vaccine is dangerous. The man who did heroin for at least fourteen years and who sounds like he swallowed a chainsaw, said that The Measles cause blindness, death, and even a weird love for the new torpedo bat in baseball.
Instead of any of that actually happening, real death has come to two children. Secretary Kennedy announced yesterday that this development has motivated him to reverse his stance, and now he strongly encourages people to immunize their children. The best way to not get The Measles, is by taking the measles vaccine. Pretty easy.
For whatever reason, the topic of vaccine effectiveness is often challenging to comprehend.
During a national broadcast on April 12, 1955, Dr. Thomas Francis Jr. declared the new polio vaccine to be “safe and effective.”
Dr. Jonas Salk developed the successful vaccine, and Dr. Francis led the team that completed a comprehensive study of the medical breakthrough. Polio was a devastating virus, one that affected President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Because of this vaccine, polio isn’t a thing.
However, people today remain uncertain about vaccines. During the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccinated individuals continued to contract the virus. What people didn’t understand, including your favorite historical humorist, is that the COVID-19 virus mutates rapidly, while measles and polio are considered stable viruses. Preventing it through vaccination is easier, whereas COVID-19 is more challenging because it is a persistent and unpredictable virus.
This completes my class on vaccines. There is no test.
Okay, let's highlight what else happened this week. As a reminder, these events celebrate their anniversary, ending in 5 or 0. Here's what I got:
1. The Works Progress Administration was approved by Congress on April 8, 1935. President FDR created the New Deal agency to help millions of mostly white guys with little education get jobs while the Great Depression was taking place. Congress shelled out $4.9 billion to help build the United States’ infrastructure, including roads, schools, parks, and other stuff like that. Oh, it also helped build incarceration camps for Japanese Americans. Eventually, Congress passed the Hatch Act, which you may be familiar with. It’s the law that says employees of the executive branch can’t engage in political activities. It was passed in 1939 and brought the WPA to an end.
2. General Robert E. Lee surrendered on April 9, 1865. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia took a gamble and invaded the United States in 1863, hoping to drag out the war and bring the Union to the peace table. Instead, he was defeated at Gettysburg and, for the next two years, retreated while losses continued to mount. Facing inevitable defeat with few supplies and little hope, he arrived at Appomattox Courthouse, where General Ulysses S. Grant agreed to terms and brought the Civil War to a close.
3. Apollo 13 announced, “Houston, we had a problem,” on April 13, 1970. An explosion during the mission marred the seventh crew mission and the third lunar landing. The Command guy said, “Houston, we had a problem.” Fast forward to 1995, when the movie Apollo 13 came out and changed the line to “Houston, we have a problem.” It’s what people say now all the time, like when measles break out again and kill children, “Houston, we have a problem.”
On Friday, Maria Shriver held a book event at the parish where I work. She’s selling a book about poems and feelings. It was a nice event. I didn’t see any of it, but it was cool helping out and telling Luke Russert where the bathrooms were.
This week, there are no Kennedy family members scheduled to come to work. At least, none that I know about. Anonymous and I do have quite a few evening events planned, beginning tonight when the Florida Gators play for the national championship in basketball. Go Gators!
I’ll be back on Friday. If you like this content, please hit the like button. Thank you! Your support is greatly appreciated. Have a great week!
Okay,
Chris
“The best way to not get The Measles, is by taking the measles vaccine.” Imagine! Great post Christopher.
At least Kennedy isn't Surgeon General....