herd immunity

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A few years back, I enrolled my daughter in a Waldorf preschool, where the kids played with only wooden, silk and woolen toys. Everyone was really into eating raw foods, sewing, and visualizing whirled peas.

Then, one day, when I was picking up my daughter, I found out that fully one-third of the families did not vaccinate their children! As I had a young infant at the time, we immediately dropped out of the school, incredulous.

Turns out, vaccine refusal may be a habit for some in the overclass in the U.S. and Australia.

This, from actress Amanda Peet:

I live in a very rarefied enclave... and it's hard to imagine that your child would be struck by a rare disease when you live in that world. But I got involved [in promoting vaccination] because it scared me when I learned how many parents were withholding vaccines from their children.
- Self, December 2009

Snoburbs to everyone else: You people go ahead and inject your infants. Our herd is protected.

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