How Covid Boosters Eroded A Generation's Trust In Medicine

Posted • April 17, 2025: I don’t consider myself a “crunchy” mom by any stretch. My kids had access to Coke as soon as they could ask for it, enjoyed unrestricted snacks and treats, and had plenty of screen time. The one area where I veered into “crunchy” territory was vaccines. My oldest is now nearly 25, and my youngest is 19, so when I questioned vaccines for my babies, I was an outlier. Back then, moms weren’t asking the same questions they do now. When my first child was born, I was teaching. A colleague, whose young child had recently been diagnosed with autism, shared a stack of articles about vaccine risks for newborns. Around the same time, my newly retired mother, eager to protect her soon-to-be grandson, began researching and found reports of vaccine injuries. After discussing their findings, I consulted my pediatrician. He recommended the shots but acknowledged that, as the mom, I had the final say, and he couldn’t guarantee no adverse effects.

He suggested administering the MMR vaccine as separate shots, which he considered safer, and offered to order them individually. He also agreed to spread out the vaccination schedule. By age 5, both of my kids were behind on the standard vaccine schedule, but Florida allows religious exemptions, which I claimed. By age 13, they were mostly caught up, though I opted out of a few vaccines I deemed unnecessary. Today, doctors report a significant rise in vaccine hesitancy among parents. —— Alexander Tin @Alexander_Tin: “A majority of CDC's COVID-19 vaccines work group is now backing an end to "universal" recommendation for shots. Instead, a new "risk-based" approach would focus on older adults and those with an underlying condition that risks severe disease.” —— elizabeth bennett @ebennett74: “As a pediatrician, it is difficult to communicate the extent to which adding yearly COVID boosters to the recommended childhood vaccine schedule damaged many parents’ trust in the rest of the schedule. It increased vaccine hesitancy to a degree I have not seen in over 20 years of practice.”

The COVID boosters should never have been offered to children, let alone mandated on the vaccine schedule. Early data showed kids were at low risk from COVID, making the push for additional shots a blatant money grab by Big Pharma that should have been stopped. Moreover, the COVID vaccine failed to deliver on its promises for adults. My fully vaccinated father was hospitalized with COVID and nearly died. It was only by God’s grace and Ivermectin that he survived. He received Ivermectin two weeks into his hospital stay, but only after a nurse restrained him overnight, leaving bruises on his wrists, and I confronted the staff. I demanded they administer the Ivermectin I had begged for, threatening to go to the media with photos of his injuries. The medical establishment’s actions have fueled the deep distrust many parents now feel toward the system. If they’re lying to me about this what else are they lying about. This is a perfectly fair question for parents to be asking. Any Doctor who is unwilling to admit this is part of the problem.

elizabeth bennett @ebennett74: “I do think, for much of my career, things were more objective. Unfortunately it seems that our scientific associations, journals and medical associations completely abandoned objectivity right around when many journalism outlets did, circa 2016. There is no excuse for any of it.” —— The Doctors who are willing to admit it and have honest conversations are what may save the medical industry. Good on Elizabeth for being frank about it. And the fact that it’s on the chart for 6 months and up (every year) but no doctor actually gives it or recommends it unless you ask. Lessens all credibility that it serves a positive purpose. —— Reality. Checked @reality0628: “Even so, it seems that millions of parents are still getting these shots. Can you comment on the percentage of parents who want them?” —— elizabeth bennett @ebennett74: “The COVID vaccines? In my blue state area, almost zero parents in my clinic want them for infants, and almost no parents of older children seem to be getting the yearly boosters either.“

If even the blue state parents are not buying it even more, that is bad news for the COVID vaccine. —— It's not the "anti-vaxxers" causing hesitancy, it's the "over-vaxxers." —— End mandates, restore liability and test outcomes with the unvaxxed - only THEN could informed consent even PRETEND to exist. Until then, ZERO trust.

I question everything my doctor recommends me now. As we should. It's a wake up call. And I hate to say that. I'm in my '50s and up to this point took everything that my doctor told me me as the gospel. I fear it will take decades to fix. Patients must advocate for themselves or have a trusted family member or friend advocate on their behalf. The medical landscape has shifted, and with a wealth of information readily available online, proactive engagement is essential.

CBS News: CDC weighing end to universal COVID vaccine recommendations
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cdc-covid-vaccine-recommendations-advisers/