There was a man with tongue of wood

Bill Maher is witty and funny–particularly if you are not politically or religiously conservative.

However, the closest he will get to being a virologist is when a video clip of him goes viral.

In 2009 he provoked a controversy by tweeting that anyone who got a flu shot was an idiot. In a blog post on November 15, 2009 he backed off a bit, but defended himself by:

1. I’m a comedian
2. I tweeted it, didn’t say it on my show.
3. Saying there are questionable things about vaccines.
4. Endorsing a group opposing vaccinations.

It was a non-apology worthy of a Washington official. The truth is that while Bill Maher is neither an authority nor an expert on vaccines, he has influence based upon his celebrity. And, as a result, he can influence many people who should get vaccinated but are undecided, as can any other celebrity. After all, who likes hypodermic needles except for the rare needle freak? We all want some cover for deciding to avoid needles.

We may all be grateful that celebrities are not the go-to experts on health care for most parents; however, a 2011 University of Michigan study found that 1 out of 50 parents rely on celebrities a lot for information, and that 1 out of 4 rely on celebrities some.

One of the sources that Maher cited was the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC). It is reasonable that individuals who have suffered side effects from vaccines or any other medication might band together to ask that there be full disclosure on the risks as well as every effort to promote safety. Unfortunately, NVIC goes a step forward, suggesting that vaccination is a matter of preference rather than necessity. It is a bit like receiving a full glass of water and obsessing about the emptiness between the top of the water and the lip of the glass.

A key paragraph in their statement of purpose:

This traditional paternalistic medical model is increasingly being rejected by today’s more educated health care consumers and, along with this challenge, is also an historic challenge to the supremacy of the allopathic medical model as the only means of maintaining health and preventing disease. The movement toward a more diversified, multi-dimensional model health care system is a phenomenon occurring not only in the United States but in many technologically advanced countries.

In short, it is a rejection of science in favor of some other belief system for medical care. The United States makes ample allowance for alternative belief systems; however, alternative behaviors are circumscribed. If you wish religion taught in the schools, you must attend a parochial school, not a public one. Similarly, if you want to attend a public school, then a vaccination prerequisite is reasonable, particularly when you have private alternatives, including home schooling available. Even that stretches the limits, because unvaccinated people lower the safety of everyone. Since vaccines are not 100 percent perfect (and what is in this world?) we depend on an adequate percentage of vaccinated people to prevent an epidemic among those who are only partially protected by vaccines against communicable diseases such as polio, diphtheria, and influenza.

This is “herd immunity,” or:

One of the best and simplest ways to lower healthcare costs and to improve public health is to increase our rates of vaccination. Consider this: do businesses pay for flu vaccinations because they are loving and generous, or because it will lower absenteeism and paid time off?