David Baxter PhD
Late Founder
Tattoo Artist Kat Von D Cites Vax Concerns about ‘Injecting Chemicals,’ Irony Meter Explodes.
SciBabe.com
June 15, 2018
As has been in the news recently, Kat Von D, tattoo artist and woman with a really fantastic makeup line (I’m still mourning the discontinuation of her old concealer) has announced on Instagram that she’s not vaccinating.
Then she announced that she’s in the category that I call “not an anti-vaxxer but.” This is a category of anti-vaxxer that doesn’t declare all vaccines to be bad and doesn’t declare that they don’t work. Then they question the components of the vaccines and promotes ideas from a few misconstrued reports that make vaccines sound much more dangerous than they are. Coming from someone with an Instagram reach of 6.7 million people nearly guaranteeing that when she says something controversial there will be articles covering the false balance that ‘maybe vaccines are bad,’ this is dangerous. People who may not have questioned vaccine ingredients tumble down the rabbit hole of BS information that’s entirely too prevalent. It’s happened before when people who weren’t famous for their medical expertise trumpeted the line of “we just want safe vaccines.” (Side note, at the moment, not sure which former Singled Out host sucks more really, Chris Hardwick or Jenny McCarthy).
Dunno Kat, when you said in your earlier Instagram post that you’re planning to raise your kids “without vaccinations,” that sounds pretty damn anti-vax. And let’s be honest, you knew there was a heaping dose of cognitive dissonance (that’s a fancy pants way of saying ‘hypocrite,’ booboo) when you said you were worried about “injecting specific chemicals and toxins.”
You are aware that you inject people with specific chemicals and toxins for a living, right?
Despite what the most organicky mommy blog on the planet tells you, the chemicals in vaccines are far more rigorously tested than the ink you’ve injected into anyone’s epidermis. Clarifying for the cheap seats, no matter how carefully your tattoo artist has picked out quality inks or told you they’re “natural” pigments or how clean the shop is, that ink is not all that well regulated, and in some cases neither are the shops. However, with vaccines, every component has been tested and proven to be safe over the long haul. Furthermore, vaccines go through a more rigorous process than other pharmaceuticals in post-market monitoring via the Vaccine Safety Datalink, a program in use for several decades to track any adverse reactions. I don’t know how many scientific reports Kat has read, but I offer her the results of the monitoring here to see for herself that, indeed, vaccines have been tested and shown to be safe. I’m waiting on the paperwork showing that the chemicals and toxins she injects into people are safe. I won’t hold my breath.
I say this not to rag on tattoos. I’m moderately covered in them, most tattoo shops are clean, incidence of adverse reaction to ink is low, and Kat is a very talented tattoo artist who I’m sure runs a safe shop.
However.
Don’t you dare deny your child immunity from deadly illnesses on the basis of ‘injecting certain chemicals’ - tested chemicals - when the only reason that you have a voice to reach nearly seven million people on your Instagram account is because you inject certain chemicals - untested - into people. One of these is life-saving, one of these is fun, stop deliberately obfuscating this when it’s convenient for you.
Lastly, it’s disturbing to me that people are wishing death on someone’s child because they’re opting not to vaccinate. If we’re trying to promote vaccines, I would hope we’re wishing a long, disease free life upon people, as miserable as that can be sometimes (wub a lub a dub dub). It’s hard to find success in changing peoples’ minds on a lot of things in science (including climate change, GMOs, vaccines, and even the shape of the goddamn planet). Though I’m a snarky pain in the ass, I do this because I want people to have accurate health information, and I’ve yet to see wishing harm upon someone turn them into someone who’s willing to listen.
Kat, I sincerely hope you’re listening.
SciBabe.com
June 15, 2018
As has been in the news recently, Kat Von D, tattoo artist and woman with a really fantastic makeup line (I’m still mourning the discontinuation of her old concealer) has announced on Instagram that she’s not vaccinating.
Then she announced that she’s in the category that I call “not an anti-vaxxer but.” This is a category of anti-vaxxer that doesn’t declare all vaccines to be bad and doesn’t declare that they don’t work. Then they question the components of the vaccines and promotes ideas from a few misconstrued reports that make vaccines sound much more dangerous than they are. Coming from someone with an Instagram reach of 6.7 million people nearly guaranteeing that when she says something controversial there will be articles covering the false balance that ‘maybe vaccines are bad,’ this is dangerous. People who may not have questioned vaccine ingredients tumble down the rabbit hole of BS information that’s entirely too prevalent. It’s happened before when people who weren’t famous for their medical expertise trumpeted the line of “we just want safe vaccines.” (Side note, at the moment, not sure which former Singled Out host sucks more really, Chris Hardwick or Jenny McCarthy).
Dunno Kat, when you said in your earlier Instagram post that you’re planning to raise your kids “without vaccinations,” that sounds pretty damn anti-vax. And let’s be honest, you knew there was a heaping dose of cognitive dissonance (that’s a fancy pants way of saying ‘hypocrite,’ booboo) when you said you were worried about “injecting specific chemicals and toxins.”
You are aware that you inject people with specific chemicals and toxins for a living, right?
Despite what the most organicky mommy blog on the planet tells you, the chemicals in vaccines are far more rigorously tested than the ink you’ve injected into anyone’s epidermis. Clarifying for the cheap seats, no matter how carefully your tattoo artist has picked out quality inks or told you they’re “natural” pigments or how clean the shop is, that ink is not all that well regulated, and in some cases neither are the shops. However, with vaccines, every component has been tested and proven to be safe over the long haul. Furthermore, vaccines go through a more rigorous process than other pharmaceuticals in post-market monitoring via the Vaccine Safety Datalink, a program in use for several decades to track any adverse reactions. I don’t know how many scientific reports Kat has read, but I offer her the results of the monitoring here to see for herself that, indeed, vaccines have been tested and shown to be safe. I’m waiting on the paperwork showing that the chemicals and toxins she injects into people are safe. I won’t hold my breath.
I say this not to rag on tattoos. I’m moderately covered in them, most tattoo shops are clean, incidence of adverse reaction to ink is low, and Kat is a very talented tattoo artist who I’m sure runs a safe shop.
However.
Don’t you dare deny your child immunity from deadly illnesses on the basis of ‘injecting certain chemicals’ - tested chemicals - when the only reason that you have a voice to reach nearly seven million people on your Instagram account is because you inject certain chemicals - untested - into people. One of these is life-saving, one of these is fun, stop deliberately obfuscating this when it’s convenient for you.
Lastly, it’s disturbing to me that people are wishing death on someone’s child because they’re opting not to vaccinate. If we’re trying to promote vaccines, I would hope we’re wishing a long, disease free life upon people, as miserable as that can be sometimes (wub a lub a dub dub). It’s hard to find success in changing peoples’ minds on a lot of things in science (including climate change, GMOs, vaccines, and even the shape of the goddamn planet). Though I’m a snarky pain in the ass, I do this because I want people to have accurate health information, and I’ve yet to see wishing harm upon someone turn them into someone who’s willing to listen.
Kat, I sincerely hope you’re listening.
