The way I see it is this. SOME vaccines are all right--they've been around for awhile, they're proven, and they have definite benefits. MMR, I can see (although NOT before age 3, personally, unless they re-release the individual ones). DTAP, I can see (though personally must be careful with my own children due to a reaction I had to TDAP).
Some have a particular reputation for being nasty--Gardasil for example. Too new, too unproven, and kind of too useless. Another is the Hep B vax at birth...because newborns share SO many dirty needles
. One...pneumoccal? (I know I slaughtered that spelling) or Prevnar? has a nasty rep. The Rotovirus vax has a nasty rep too and an old ped of ours who was VERY pro-vax actually refused to administer the rotovirus one to her patients <---that speaks LOADS to me.
I will not vax before age 1--little immune systems need time to strength before having to deal with the direct injection of chemicals. I will not give MMR before 3. And we don't do flu shots, ever.
But I also will not buy into fear and hype on either end of the scale. My kids are healthy; they rarely get sick even with the things that my (fully vaxed
) dcks bring in and when they do get sick it's usually over pretty quick. I will NOT buy into fear. Both sides of the vaccine debate engage in fear-mongering hype tactics and I hate them both.