‘Anti-vaxxers’ claims lack scientific basis’

By Selma Kasap

ANKARA (AA) - The conspiracy theories of anti-vaccine groups, which have once again surfaced amid the coronavirus outbreak, could not find any scientific basis in the nearly two centuries since the first modern vaccine was applied.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Prof. Dr. Ural Akbulut, a research associate at Ankara-based Middle East Technical University’s chemistry department, said a vaccine was first applied against the smallpox epidemic in China a thousand years ago and that the people who survived smallpox made a powder from their scabs and blew it into their children's nostrils with a straw. The children then contracted a mild form of the disease and upon recovering were immune.

Stating that the smallpox vaccine was also made in Istanbul in the 1700s, Akbulut said Lady Montagu, the wife of Britain’s ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, had her son vaccinated in Istanbul in 1718.

The British embassy’s doctor, Charles Maitland, also learned of the vaccine in Istanbul and began administering it in Britain in 1721, he said.

He said that in the US, the first smallpox vaccine was applied in Boston.

"A year later, fanatic priests in England began saying that the vaccine was against religion. A British priest said that 'diseases are sent by God as punishment for our sins. The vaccine is evil.'"

Akbulut said the history of the modern vaccine is based on Edward Jenner and the smallpox vaccine in the 18th century.

"Jenner, a doctor in Australia, learned in 1796 that those who milked cows did not catch smallpox. A milkmaid took pus from a cowpox blister on her hand and rubbed it in the scratches of a gardener's son's arm and he did not get the disease. The purchase of a vaccine originating from cattle skin attracted the reaction of fanatical priests and uneducated people. Protesters spread propaganda that 'if vaccinated, children would look like cattle.”

In Britain, the National Anti-Vaccination League was established in 1866, and in 1879, the Anti-Vaccination Society of America was founded.

Infants became obliged to be vaccinated in Britain in 1853 and children under 14 in 1867.

Akbulut said that in 1885, in the city of Leicester, England, three people were detained for saying ‘we will not vaccinate our children’ with the encouragement of anti-vaccination associations and that thousands of fanatic supporters of the associations protested.

In Brazil, the day a mandatory vaccination law was enacted in 1902, people living in poor neighborhoods and some soldiers attempted an uprising against vaccination.

He said that as vaccines proved to be successful, laws were passed in most countries requiring mandatory vaccination.

“Over time, opposition to vaccines faded away, but when side effects were seen in some combination vaccines, the anti-vaxxers reacted again in the 1970s, but the resistance was short-lived.”

In 1998, Dr. Andrew Wakefield announced that the measles, mumps and rubella combination vaccine cause autism by exaggerating the side effects and falsifying the hospital records. Wakefield published a scientific article based on this claim, causing a revolt among anti-vaccination circles.

However, the same year, it was proven that he was lying, and he was stripped of his license to practice.

- 3 million people prevented from dying every year

Akbulut pointed out the importance of the coronavirus vaccines to stop the pandemic. "Thanks to vaccines, 3 million people are prevented from dying every year. If the rate of those who have the vaccine reaches the targeted level, 1.5 million more people will be prevented from dying. For this reason, getting the COVID-19 vaccine is of great importance."

"It is scientifically accepted that all three newly developed vaccines are safe and effective. These vaccines are important developments for millions of people to continue their lives in a healthy way. If anti-vaccination campaigns continue, the COVID-19 pandemic could last for years and take millions of lives."