EVERYONE LOVES HUGS!
AND YOU'RE NOT CONTAGIOUS! YOU'RE VACCINATED!
Getting vaccinateed not only protects you, but it protects the community around you through “herd immunity.”
Each unvaccinated person in the world puts themselves
and their community at risk of disease, and those unable
to receive vaccines (like tiny babies) rely on every person
around them, their herd, to protect them by getting vaccinated.
If you can’t get a disease, you can’t spread it!
Contrary to unpopular belief, vaccines don’t cause autism. They don’t cause diseases or disorders or distress or dystonia. In fact, except for rare cases, receiving a vaccine is completely safe. The greatest risk a person faces when getting vaccinated is an allergic reaction.
The shot you receive saves more lives than your own!
The thought of vaccination can be frightening. But here are some of the things that are undeniably
NOT caused by vaccines:
Autism, mercury poisoning, dystonia, Jenny McCarthyism, cancer, hepatitis, HIV, multiple
sclerosis, loss of ability to fly, epilepsy, never ever being able to cheerlead again, SIDS,
growing old as time goes on, dogs chasing cats, gaining the ability to cheerlead, poor vision,
impotence, diabetes, bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or a dislike of being hugged...
...so hug me! I'm vaccinated!
- HUG US!
- WE'RE VACCINATED
- WE HAVE COOL STUFF
On May 26th, the American Rally for Personal Rights organized an anti-vaccination event in Chicago's Grant park. Speakers came to discussed the "harms" of vaccines, and de-licenced doctor Andrew Wakefield gave a keynote speech. The whole event was full of anecdotal stories, conspiracy theories, and misinformation.
In the inaugural (and very impromptu) Hug Me! event, volunteers from the Women Thinking Free Foundation headed to Grant Park to do their part to help counter the deadly communicable BS being spread to the people of Chicago. They passed out fliers, talked to bystanders and to the news media, and generally worked to counter the nonsense. What's the motivation? Their children (and pets) who, thanks to vaccines, are protected from measles, mumps, rubella, polio, and numerous other crippling or fatal illnesses.
This is what we're doing all this for. For our kids. And your kids. And everyone else's kids, for that matter.
For Adam, the 2 1/2 year old son of Lesley and Jeff. Isn't he a cutie? His parents say, "We actually vaccinated him twice for a few things. He was vaccinated by his orphanage in Ethiopia, but it is difficult to keep vaccines at the proper temperatures and they can sometimes be ineffective. Also, he was immunized for measles alone, so we gave him the MMR vaccine when he came to Canada so he was more fully protected."
Lesley and Jeff sent in this picture of their son to support the Hug Me! Campaign, and to let everyone out there on the Intarwebs know that they had him vaccinated. Because he's cute, they love him, and they'd like to keep him.
You can hug Adam. Because he's vaccinated!
Would you like to support the Hug Me! Campaign? Maybe get some cool swag? Or go to an awesome event? Soon we'll have all sorts of goodies on the Women Thinking Free site for you to take home! Until then, donate if you can to our sponsoring organization, the Women Thinking Free Foundation, and help fund events like our vaccination clinics. You'll know that your contributions are going directly to support more disease-free hugs for everyone!
If you are interested in donating to our vaccine clinics and other initiatives, just click this shiny button right here!
How to help vaccinate everyone!
May, 2012 - Right now, we are in the middle of a severe pertussis (whooping cough) epidemic. So over here, we’re trying to fix this in every way we can… by vaccinating people against pertussis. The Women Thinking Free and the Hug Me! I’m Vaccinated campaign have partnered with the JREF and will be bringing yet another Tdap clinic to TAM 2012. So we’re asking again if you could chip in to help us save the world. Find out more here, or visit our ChipIn page to donate today!
ACTION ALERT: help foil the antivaxxers!
December, 2011 - ABC is promoting a dangerously misleading antivaccination website with a huge ad in Times Square on New Year's Eve.Yep, the NVIC is at it again... help us stop this ad from being broadcast and viewed by millions of NYE revelers! You can find out more about the ad and the campaign against it, and SIGN THE PETITION HERE!
I Flu Delta: An Action Alert
November, 2011 - The National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) is promoting its misleading "information" yet again. This time, the NVIC is running an ad on Delta Airlines flights through the entire month of November. Read Elyse's take on why being on a planeful of unvaccinated people might not be such a great vacation, and add your name to our petiton asking Delta not to encourage anti vaccination rhetoric.
Hug Me, I'm Vaccinated! Gets a Shout Out from HuffPo
October, 2011 - Check this out! One of the Huffington Post's prominent writers – science correspondent Cara Santa Maria – has written a very solid and in-your-face pro-vaccine article. Not only that, but she also gives us a big shout out! Thanks, Cara!
Stop the Times Square anti-vaccination ads!
April, 2011 - The National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC), an organization ironically misinformed about vaccines, is running an anti-vaccine "PSA" in Times Square. This message has been condemned by the American Academy of Pediatrics as being harmful, unfounded, unscientific and misleading. Want to know more? See this post on Skepchick to see why, and sign this petition asking CBS Outdoor not to run this ad.
