I've had this book for a while now, it was released pre-covid (2012) but it's still worth reading, especially as there isn't (as far as I know) a post-covid equivalent.
I would strongly recommend this book to anyone with strong feelings about vaccines who wishes to educate themselves about this very important medical technology.
It destroys two common and persisting myths in one fell swoop.
The first being that vaccines are somehow intentionally malignant or at least harmful in a significant, undocumented way.
The second is that vaccines are 100% safe. Because the truth is a little more complex.
It is however, incredibly reassuring to discover just what the hazards are. It makes it much easier to make a calculated choice. Deciding whether to vaccinate, in any situation, is about weighing the risks of doing so over the risks of not doing so. It's not about deciding between two very polarised opinions, and that is why a book like this is so important.
The book takes every reported case of vaccines having some kind of adverse effect, as indicated, and digs deeper to discover what the evidence is in each case, whether it's significant, what the causative factors are.
I found it gave me a very good sense for where various stories originated and why, but most importantly, an objective view of a type of medicine that is one of the most important components of modern day immunology. It is an inexact science, and this book tells part of that story.
Adverse effects of vaccines tend to fall into four categories:
1. One-off events or tragedies, like the Cutter incident.
2. Incredibly rare reactions, like Guillain-Barré syndrome or Anaphylactic shock.
3. Common, mild reactions, like that associated with unattenuated flu vaccine.
4. Reports that turn out to be bogus. Or that fail on closer inspection, to have a connection to the vaccine, like the MMR debacle.
Now my only worry is that we may be headed for another modern day version of the cutter incident, especially with the fast track that recent covid vaccines have made. But that was a problem with the storage and preservation of a vaccine, and that tech has come a very long way.
I have to say though, on the whole, I find that knowing the hazards, as few and infrequent as they are, is far more reassuring than being told there are none.