Cribsheet: A Data-Driven Guide to Better, More Relaxed Parenting, from Birth to Preschool

Oster explores the history and controversies surrounding vaccinations, and emphasizes their crucial role in public health. Oster initiates the discussion by underscoring the remarkable reduction in measles-related deaths in the United States, a triumph attributed to the advent of the measles vaccine. Oster emphasizes the broader triumph of vaccinations, including those for whooping cough, smallpox, and polio, which collectively have saved millions of lives globally.

She also probes the persistent apprehensions and resistance toward vaccinations, particularly scrutinizing the fraudulent link between vaccines and autism perpetuated by Andrew Wakefield’s influential but since discredited 1998 paper in The Lancet. She acknowledges the repercussions of these apprehensions on disease outbreaks, exemplified by the 2017 measles outbreak in Minnesota’s Somali immigrant community. Oster underscores the surprising trend that vaccine resistance tends to be stronger in areas with more educated parents, challenging the assumption that lack of information is the primary barrier to vaccination.

The author underscores the rarity and manageable nature of documented risks associated with vaccines, such as allergic reactions and febrile seizures, while firmly debunking unsupported claims. Oster accentuates the critical significance of vaccine efficacy in preventing widespread diseases, emphasizing that “the scientific consensus on vaccinations is extremely clear: vaccines are safe and effective” (136).