This Saturday, Mar. 24 at 1 PM ET/10 AM PT, the Peabody and Emmy Award winning online Current TV network will broadcast The Greater Good, an indie documentary that is jump-starting conversations nationwide about vaccine safety and the legal right to make vaccine choices in America. After the broadcast of the 80 minute film there will be a live chat with one of the filmmakers, Kendall Nelson.
Family Experiences and Diverse Group of Experts Featured
Five years in the making by Leslie Manookian, Chris Pilaro and Kendall Nelson, The Greater Good follows three families impacted by vaccine reactions, including Shannon Schrag and her daughter, Gabrielle, in Kansas, who was injured by Gardasil vaccine; the King family, of Portland, Oregon, and their son, Jordan, who regressed into autism after receiving a series of vaccinations; and Stephanie and Danny Christner, whose infant daughter, Victoria, died after multiple vaccinations in Oklahoma. NVIC’s co-founder and president, Barbara Loe Fisher, is one of many featured experts in this riveting and carefully balanced discussion of vaccine science, policy, law and ethics that presents different perspectives.
For details on finding Current TV with your local cable and satellite providers, visit www.current.com. To participate in the live chat after the Saturday broadcast, go to current.com/greatergood and the live chat window will appear.
Public Hearing on S. 199 in VT Health Committee on March 21
The Vermont House Health Care Committee will hold a public hearing on S.199 to remove philosophical exemption to vaccination this Wednesday evening, Mar. 21, from 6:00 to 8:00 PM. Call Loring Starr at the Health Care Committee through the Sergeant of Arms at 802-828-2228 or email her at lstarr@leg.state.vt.us if you want to testify during the hearing.
To contact your VT legislator and get the latest information on S199, sign up to be a free online user of NVIC’s Advocacy Portal.
Screening of The Greater Good in Vermont on March 22
As Vermont families face the threat of losing the philosophical exemption to vaccination in their state, The Vermont Coalition for Vaccine Choice is sponsoring a free screening of The Greater Good film this Thursday, Mar. 22 at 7 PM at the Big Picture Theater in Waitsfield, VT.
If you live in Vermont, please contact your elected state representatives and ask them and their staffers to watch this critically acclaimed documentary BEFORE they vote on S. 199 to remove the philosophical exemption to vaccination from the state’s public health laws.
There is a bill in California (AB2109) that threatens the personal belief exemption in that state. Learn more by becoming an active user of NVIC’s free online Advocacy Portal, where you can be put in instant touch with the legislators you voted into office on your Smartphone, tablet or computer.
Make your voice heard. Go to www.NVICAdvocacy.org to read NVIC’s Action Alert about CA AB2109 and take action today.
Support Film Screenings in Your Community and Nationwide
The Greater Good team has a special matching grant opportunity to raise funds to bring this award winning film to parents, policy makers and healthcare practitioners. Support their community outreach efforts on IndieGoGo.
If you would like to organize a screening of The Greater Good in your community, contact the filmmakers at info@vaccinemovie.org. Many screenings followed by Q&A conversations have already been scheduled. Check for upcoming screenings by clicking here.
Local CA Board of Ed President Applauds Greater Good Film
NVIC has witnessed mounting attacks on vaccine freedom of choice this year in states like Vermont, Arizona, Colorado and California. One father and current Board of Education President for the San Ramon Valley Unified School District, wrote an open letter on Mar. 16 applauding the responsible positioning of the vaccine safety and informed consent debate in The Greater Good documentary.
Mr. Marvel described his family’s experience with vaccine reactions and emphasized he supported vaccination but also believed that there should be a civil discussion about vaccine benefits and risks for individuals. He encouraged everyone to view The Greater Good and use it as a starting point for discussion.
His letter was published by The Canary Party here.
Have you had a vaccine reaction? Are you considering giving your child one or more vaccines but would like to know which serious health problems are most commonly reported for those vaccines?
Visitors to NVIC.org can find answers to these frequently asked questions by visiting NVIC’s vaccine reactions webpage and linking to the premiere vaccine reaction search engine, MedAlerts. Thanks to the extraordinary efforts of Steven M. Rubin, PhD, a computer scientist for over 40 years and NVIC’s Volunteer Director of Vaccine Research Analytics, MedAlerts answers those very questions and many more.
Most Americans are unaware that, when Congress passed the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986, it required the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to collect information on vaccine adverse events by creating and operating a centralized Vaccine Adverse Event Report System (VAERS). VAERS is a passive post-marketing vaccine safety surveillance system and, since 1990, the VAERS database has stored many thousands of vaccine adverse event reports, which can be accessed and reviewed by the public.
What makes the MedAlerts search engine unique? Outside of the fact that it was the first search engine designed to offer the public an easy way to access and search the VAERS database, it is more user-friendly than the government’s VAERS database search program, called CDC Wonder. MedAlerts offers users a better online experience with increased search capabilities and more powerful reporting features. Also unique to MedAlerts is the ability to download the entire VAERS database (in Microsoft Access format) so that further analysis can be done offline.
Learning how to use MedAlerts couldn’t be easier. Online documentation educates new and seasoned users about the use of all features and MedAlerts also provides a monthly blog on vaccine reaction trends, which many subscribers have found to be a valuable learning tool. You can subscribe free of charge.
Some of the more recent improvements to MedAlerts include:
- Flexible age groupings when analyzing search results for vaccine reaction reports in specified age groups;
- Improved vaccine reaction symptom searches using the full MedDRA (standard system of symptom classification);
- Changes to the search form to be more compatible with the CDC’s Wonder program;
- Incorporation of vaccine dose information in vaccine reaction report searches;
- Integration of census data for state population density normalization.
With a search performed every 5 seconds and an additional 100,000 hits per week, the success of MedAlerts over the past 10 years is truly remarkable. MedAlerts continues to be the premiere VAERS search engine and is used by everyone from concerned parents to CDC vaccine researchers. NVIC is grateful to Steven Rubin for volunteering his time to be a member of our team and for providing this valuable public service.
MedAlerts, like any internet application, is constantly evolving. If there are improvements that you would like to see, please email Steven with your suggestions. If you have never used MedAlerts, why not take it for a spin right now?
More Vaccine News
Frontline Re-broadcasts “The Vaccine War” Mar. 20 at 10 PM (originally broadcast April 27, 2010).
Pennsylvania Flu Cases Drop by 97% Over Last Year. The Patriot News (Pennsylvania). Mar.16
Parents Rally Against Vaccine Bills. ABC 22-TV (Burlington, VT). Mar. 15
One of a Kind Disaster Drill Held in Independence. Fox News 4 (Kansas). Mar. 11
Unusually Light Flu Season Reported in Region. Post Star (New York). Mar. 10
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