Caving in to Anti-Vaxxers

This TIME Magazine column made me angry. It's titled "The Anti-Vax Movement Isn’t Going Away. We Must Adapt to It." and I immediately thought: No.  We don't have to adapt to the anti-vaxxers. They have to adapt to us, the vaxxers, the cautious ones, the unselfish ones!

Some disturbing excerpts:

"The near future likely portends escalating disputes about immunization policy, lower vaccination rates, and a resurgence of diseases once tamed by vaccines. Our response should be to adapt to widespread vaccine refusal rather than to nurture naïve hopes of overcoming it. If we can’t prevent outbreaks, we will need to learn to live with them.".  

"Given the prospect of uneven state and institutional support for vaccination, individuals and families must also brace themselves for more frequent disease outbreaks. Some new parents already prevent unvaccinated relatives from visiting their babies. Families will need to consider extending these forms of private immunization governance when states can no longer protect them."

"We are not talking about “giving up.” Governments should continue to promote vaccine acceptance and enforce vaccine mandates. The right kinds of outreach can sway some people who are on the fence about vaccinating. But these efforts alone are unlikely to be sufficient to prevent future outbreaks. Adapting to the times we live in is the only way forward."

Yes - they are talking about giving up. And they are also putting the burden on the rest of us. Why should be "learn to live with" and "brace for more frequent disease outbreaks" rather than insist that people get vaccinated? This is really unfair, and I for one have no intention of caving in and "just living" with more disease.