1. The CDC Childhood Vaccine Schedule – What’s changed over time?
2. Vaccine Excipients – Understanding the purpose and risk of the extra ingredients
3. What is VAERS? – The Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System
4. Be aware – Understanding Informed Consent and Patient Bill of Rights
We, as Parents, are trusted to make informed decisions about our children’s health and well-being. As with any important decision, this involves gathering information, reviewing potential risks and benefits, and asking insightful questions so that we can respond confidently. Informed medical choices, including those about vaccine administration and mRNA therapies, are no different. While vaccines are often promoted as “safe and effective” and as having been “tested” in clinical trials, parents need to be aware that both true vaccines and gene therapies carry RISK. Vaccine injuries, ranging from mild to severe, including death, are documented and are clearly acknowledged by the CDC and by vaccine manufacturers. And yet, in the event of injury or death, the manufacturers are protected from liability. The decision rests in the parents’ hands. (3) (4) (11) (12) (13) (14) (15) (16) (17) (24)
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The first vaccine recommendations were published in 1938 as a pamphlet and included immunizations against diphtheria, pertussis, rabies, tetanus, tuberculosis, typhoid fever, and smallpox. By the early 1950s, national campaigns made polio and other vaccines routine for all children. By 2025, the CDC’s childhood vaccine schedule includes up to 19 different immunizations, including influenza and COVID-19, with multiple doses for many of them. Depending on the schedule, a child may receive up to 72 vaccine doses by age 18, including as many as 28 separate shots in the first year of life. As the number of recommended vaccines continues to grow, understanding the ingredients and potential risks of each one is essential for making informed medical decisions. (10) (23)
We’re told vaccines are “safe & effective”—but is this an overly simplified statement?
As parents and caregivers, we have the right to ask questions that help us gain clarity and understanding, reduce fear, and feel confident in our decisions.
Ask yourself . . .
Adverse events are not “rare”. The CDC’s own Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) has been collecting data since 1990. By 2019, over 8,000 vaccine-related deaths were reported, and 47% of them were among children under age three. Of the permanent disabilities following vaccinations, 30% occurred in children under age 17. And this is just what is reported by VAERS. Multiply it by 100 to get more realistic figures. (15)(24)(25) (26)(29)
This article breaks down what’s in the shots, the risks involved, and your patient rights, including informed consent. Awareness and education empower you to make informed decisions and have real conversations with your healthcare provider.
Each year, the CDC publishes recommendations for children and adults. The number of vaccinations has increased over the years, now including 72 or more doses by age eighteen. Check out the CDC’s own Child and Adolescent Immunization Schedule by Age directly on their site. This amounts to about 25 vaccine doses by the time a child is 24 months old, the minimum age for definitive immunocompetence. In 1796, the first vaccine for smallpox was developed, but by 1995, the vaccination schedule had expanded to include 19 immunizations. Today, COVID-19 shots and annual influenza shots are also recommended, and more mRNA genetic therapies are in development. (10) (27)
According to data from 38 high-income nations, the U.S. spends more per capita on healthcare than any other country, yet it ranks lower in life expectancy and has higher rates of chronic illness, infant mortality, and maternal death. (28)
Let’s take a closer look at what’s in the shots themselves—and why that matters.
What are “vaccine excipients”, and how might this affect health outcomes? The US FDA defines excipients as inactive ingredients of pharmaceutical formulations as “any component of the drug product other than the active ingredient” . . . that are “necessary to support the active ingredients in drugs, vaccines, and other products, and they contribute to their stability, preservation, pharmacokinetics, bioavailability, appearance and acceptability”. Basically, these compounds are added to either help preserve or stabilize the formulation, or they serve as adjuvants to stimulate a greater immune response for antibody formation. Other ingredients are used to grow vaccine antigens, to kill viruses or toxins, or to prevent bacterial contamination. You can find this information in the manufacturer’s vaccine package insert. These excipients are not without potential risk, and some have been associated with adverse effects according to existing safety data. Some excipients, such as thimerosal, may be added post-marketing and are not always listed on vaccine labels or inserts. For example, thimerosal (a toxic form of mercury) may be added post-marketing without disclosure on labels or inserts. Package inserts can be found on manufacturers’ websites and the FDA’s website, but the 2018 CDC Excipient List is currently the most comprehensive public resource and includes color keys for understanding excipients in each of the shots. (1) (2) (3) (4)(5) (6) (7) (17) (22)
Here is a short list of some of the most common vaccine excipients:
Many of the excipient ingredients are known to be highly toxic. Even the FDA states in its definition that they are the primary causes for immediate and delayed hypersensitivity and anaphylaxis. Some of these well-known toxins include, but are not limited to:
Many of these ingredients are also used in manufacturing industries such as solvents, pesticides, and detergents, where toxicity is well documented They’re used in other areas of manufacturing as solvents, pesticides, in dyes and petroleum products and paints, in commercial fertilizers, in the manufacturing of rubber, textiles, plastics and coatings, and in laundry detergents, all purpose cleaners, and as algaecides and more. (2) (3) (4)(5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (17) (18)(19) (20) (21)(22)
Other key points to understand the underlying risks are as follows:
Beyond ingredients, let’s explore what systems are in place to track adverse events.
Where can you find these lists of ingredients and known risks for vaccines? For detailed safety and ingredient information, refer to the Manufacturer’s Product Insert, which includes sections on Contraindications, Warnings, Adverse Reactions, Postmarketing Experience, and Nonclinical Toxicology. You will find detailed information here about what has been studied and what has not, as well as well-documented reactions. The information presented in patient pamphlets varies greatly from the information provided in product inserts. In fact, Boxed warnings, also known as “Black Box Warnings,” are the strictest safety warnings issued by the US FDA; they alert healthcare providers and patients to serious, life-threatening risks associated with a given medication. By law, this is supposed to be reviewed with every patient or custodial guardian prior to administration. (31)(32)
“The US Court of Claims has awarded over $4.6 billion to vaccine victims for catastrophic vaccine injuries and deaths, not including attorney’s fees.” (13)
Adverse events, including minor, serious, and fatal injuries, have been documented and reported through VAERS. The CDC admits that vaccines cannot guarantee prevention of disease, nor of transmission. The FDA and CDC co-managed and opened VAERS in 1990 to detect possible safety problems in US-licensed vaccines. In 1986, a historic law was passed that removed manufacturers’ liability in cases of injuries and deaths. In H.R. 5546, the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act was passed and took effect on October 1, 1988. It acknowledges that “vaccine injuries and deaths are real and that the vaccine injured and their families should be financially supported and that vaccine safety programs are needed in the mass vaccination system”. The Vaccine Injury Table (click on table to view more) or, available on HRSA.gov, lists vaccines, injuries, disabilities, conditions, and deaths resulting from vaccine administration. This table is used in a special court to handle vaccine claim cases, specifically resolving vaccine injury petitions. However, the maximum payout per case is capped at $250,000. (11)(12) (13)(15) (16)
While anyone can report an adverse event, including death, only those claims that have been carefully reviewed are actually posted as bona fide events. Check VAERS data for reported injuries, and note that the Harvard Pilgrim Study, commissioned by the CDC with a $1 million grant, found that less than 1% of injuries were actually reported. This study analyzed 715,000 patients who received 1.4 million doses of 45 different vaccines over a 3-year period from 2006 to 2009. YOU or your doctor can report right here on VAERS https://vaers.hhs.gov/reportevent.html (14) (29)
Understanding our rights as patients is a key step to reclaiming our health sovereignty.
Vaccine safety has been under investigation for decades, and for good reason. Vaccines do fail, do cause injuries, and do result in permanent disability or death. To avoid liability and to support the government’s mass vaccination campaigns, the 1986 National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act removed that liability, and the federal courts initiated a special court, the Office of the Masters, just to handle the load of cases. The toxic vaccines, including ingredients that overload our systems with heavy metals and chemicals in single and multi-dose vials, have never been fully tested for long-term safety by independent studies. And yet, Americans are among the most ill, with the lowest infant mortality rates, among wealthy nations.
We need to remember that what confers immunity is OUR immune system, not vaccines and drugs. If we are going to Make America Healthy Again, let’s support objective and scientific questioning, let’s look at the real data, and let’s take a fresh look at how we manage health. Our children are relying on us.
For a deeper dive, I recommend some great books on this topic by doctors, pediatricians, independent research teams, and legal professionals. If you’re interested in gaining additional perspective backed by peer-reviewed and anecdotal published resources and data, get a copy of Vax Facts by Dr. Paul Thomas and Dee Dee Hoover, Miller’s Review of Critical Vaccine Studies by Niel Z. Miller, and Vax-Unvax: Let the Science Speak by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Brian Hooker, PhD.
Lisa Meller, CMP, CITP, CED is the Owner and Managing Director of Meller Performance Events Group, a professional event planning and management agency that now specializes in the health and wellness industry. She is also a student of the Energetic Health Institute and is focused on becoming a board-certified holistic nutrition counselor and coach. She is also the Fall Conference Event Manager for Healing for the AGES. Lisa has a passion for helping people reach their personal bests. As an assistant coach and multi-time national and world champion in Masters Diving, she understands and lives the healthy and active performance lifestyle. Since her university (UCLA) studies in molecular biology decades ago, she has been focused on health, wellness, and disease prevention. She is excited about sharing the message of natural health and healing.
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