(Mercola)—In this country, we’re often led to believe that vaccines are backed by solid science and have unquestionable safety. However, when you start to dig deeper, you’ll find that the evidence supporting their safety and effectiveness is often quite weak.

Since the rapid development of mRNA shots during the pandemic, many parents have been more proactive in making decisions about their children’s vaccinations. Recent data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)¹ reflect this shift, revealing that more parents of kindergarteners are becoming selective about which vaccines their child receives, or are choosing to delay certain vaccinations.

This change is driven by an increase in the number of recommended vaccines for children, coupled with rising concerns about their adverse effects. While mainstream media portrays this development as concerning, I believe it reflects a positive shift toward greater awareness and a desire among parents to make informed decisions about their children’s health care.

Fewer Parents Are Blindly Accepting the Scheduled Vaccines

According to the CDC,² for the 2023 to 2024 school year, vaccination coverage among kindergartners decreased for all reported vaccines, with the percentage for the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine (MMR) at 92.7% and the diphtheria, tetanus and acellular pertussis vaccine (DTaP) at 92.3%.

These numbers fall below the 95% threshold recommended by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.³ The CDC has also noted a record increase in vaccine exemptions among kindergartners, with the percentage of children exempt from one or more required vaccines rising from 3% to 3.3% over the past year. This increase equates to approximately 80,000 to 127,000 children.⁴

The majority of these exemptions are non-medical, indicating that parents are increasingly making conscious decisions to opt out of certain vaccinations for reasons other than health contraindications. This decline continues a trend that began in the 2019 to 2020 school year, with over 30 states reporting lower vaccination rates compared to the previous year.⁵

State-by-state data shows variations in vaccination coverage across the country. Idaho reported the lowest vaccination coverage at 79.5%, while West Virginia maintained the highest at 98.4%. Fourteen states reported exemption rates exceeding 5%, indicating that in some regions, a substantial number of parents are choosing alternative approaches to vaccination.⁶

Unsurprisingly, this decline in vaccination rates has prompted fear-inducing reports from various news outlets and comments from health officials. For instance, in a report by AP News, Dr. Raynard Washington, chair of the Big Cities Health Coalition representing 35 major metropolitan public health departments, noted that the decline in vaccination rates “explains a worrisome creep in cases of whooping cough, measles and other vaccine-preventable diseases.”⁷

Previous Research Has Questioned the Effectiveness of the Vaccines

While declining vaccination rates are being linked to the resurgence of certain diseases, numerous studies have raised doubts about the efficacy of vaccines in preventing these illnesses from the outset. This raises valid concerns for parents who are wary of exposing their children to substances they believe carry more risks than benefits.

For instance, a paper published in the journal Science Translational Medicine⁸ back in 2018 revealed that 25% of individuals vaccinated against mumps lose their immunity within eight years, while half lose it within 19 years. This decline in immunity helps explain the resurgence of mumps among college-age populations.

Moreover, virologist Stanley Plotkin stated in a Science report⁹ that research indicates the MMR vaccine produces a weaker immune response against current mumps strains compared to those from 50 years ago. Health officials subsequently recommended a third dose of MMR for 18-year-olds, further increasing the number of vaccines administered per individual. Another study published in Current Opinion in Virology showed similar findings. According to the authors:¹⁰

“Vaccine-preventable diseases (VPD) including measles and mumps have been re-emerging in countries with sustained high vaccine coverage. For mumps, waning immunity has been recognized as a major contributor to recent outbreaks … Accumulating serological and epidemiological evidence suggests that natural immunity induced by infection may be more durable compared to vaccine-induced immunity.”

When it comes to DTaP vaccines, previous research has also raised concerns regarding their long-term effectiveness and safety profile. For example, a 2021 study published in the journal Vaccine¹¹ found that its effectiveness against pertussis (whooping cough) declines rapidly over time. This finding corroborates earlier studies that similarly indicated waning immunity associated with the DTaP vaccine.^12,13,14

Vaccines Have a History of Causing Adverse Events

If a vaccine is highly effective and the risk of the disease is significant, parents would likely feel that the vaccine’s benefits outweigh its side effects. They might even support getting an extra dose.

However, if the vaccine is ineffective or if the disease is not a serious threat, the risks do not seem justified, especially if it’s been associated with serious side effects. Unfortunately, that’s the case with many of the scheduled vaccines, which have been associated with thousands of serious adverse events and hundreds of deaths.

Unofficial surveys^15,16 suggest that highly vaccinated children have more chronic health problems than unvaccinated children, and that unvaccinated children have a far lower incidence rate of autism. There’s also a growing body of research suggesting that vaccines are associated with a variety of brain and immune system disorders, including an increased risk for:

• Learning and developmental disabilities
• Brain damage
• Allergies, asthma and gut problems
• Autoimmune diseases
• Chronic infections

A study published in the Journal of Public Health and Epidemiology¹⁷ examined the correlation between autism and three specific vaccines — MMR, varicella (chickenpox) and hepatitis-A vaccines. The authors of the study suggest that the introduction of vaccines derived from human fetal cell lines, specifically the WI-38 cell line, which may harbor fetal and retroviral contaminants, could be linked to rising autism rates.

They noted a sharp increase in autism prevalence coinciding with the release of these vaccines. While this hypothesis provides one avenue for exploring the rising incidence of autism among children, it highlights a broader issue — there are many questions about vaccine science and policy that must be answered quickly before more are added to the government-recommended and mandated list for children and adults. As noted by Children’s Health Defense:¹⁸

“The truth is none of those vaccines have ever been studied or considered for their relationship to autism, so no one has any idea. This would be like trying to identify the source of a plane crash, suspecting mechanical failure, solely analyzing one of the wings, and then declaring the entire airplane free of culpability.”

What Parents Need to Know About Aluminum in Vaccines

One important aspect of vaccine safety is the presence of aluminum, a neurotoxic substance linked to increasing rates of autism and Alzheimer’s disease. For years, I have cautioned that vaccines are a significant source of aluminum exposure.

Vaccines contain a variety of components, each playing a specific role in the product’s intended function. The primary ingredient is the antigen, typically a weakened or inactivated form of the target pathogen. Adjuvants are included to supposedly enhance the immune response, with aluminum being one of the most common. Preservatives, stabilizers and residual components from the manufacturing process may also be present in the final product.¹⁹

Aluminum adjuvants have been used in vaccines for nearly a century, and were approved based on their efficacy rather than safety data. The assumption of safety, rather than rigorous testing, has led to growing concerns about long-term effects. This is particularly worrisome given that injected aluminum bypasses the body’s natural filtration systems, making it more bioavailable than ingested aluminum.^20,21

The presence of aluminum in vaccines is especially concerning for infants and young children who receive multiple doses according to recommended schedules. Studies have shown that when adjusted for body weight, the current CDC childhood vaccine schedule exposes children to aluminum levels far exceeding estimated safe limits. This raises questions about aluminum accumulation in various organs, including the brain.

Research has demonstrated aluminum’s ability to cross the blood-brain barrier and accumulate in brain tissue.²² Studies have found significant amounts of aluminum in the brains of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease, often co-located with amyloid-beta protein plaques. Some researchers have even suggested that without aluminum exposure, Alzheimer’s disease might not occur within the normal human lifespan.²³

The biological effects of aluminum are wide-ranging and impact multiple bodily systems. Aluminum has been shown to adversely affect neuronal function, disrupt cellular signaling, worsen the effects of other heavy metals and influence gene expression. It also causes mitochondrial dysfunction and ATP depletion, setting the stage for various chronic diseases.²⁴

Why Protecting Vaccine Exemptions Is Important

These known side effects of vaccines remind us why it’s so important to protect our right to make informed choices about vaccinations and to obtain vaccine exemptions in the U.S. Every individual needs to have the freedom to choose what’s best for themselves and their children, including the option to decline certain vaccines if they believe the risks are too high.

Voluntary consent is a foundation of ethical health care. It allows families to consider the risks and benefits of vaccines based on their unique health conditions. Given the lack of the science behind vaccine safety, maintaining vaccine exemption is a necessary protective measure. This is not anti-science, but a call for more thorough, independent research and greater transparency.

When it comes to protecting your family’s health, staying informed is your best strategy. Take the time to do your own research, ask questions and trust your instincts instead of simply following mandates or giving in to societal pressure. By actively seeking out information, you’re ensuring that your family’s health is in your own hands — not dictated by fear or powers that be.

VAERS — An Important Resource for Vaccine Safety Monitoring

The Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) serves as an important tool for monitoring the safety of vaccines in the U.S. Established in 1990, VAERS is a national early warning system, co-managed by the CDC and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), to detect possible safety issues with vaccines.²⁵

The system allows healthcare providers, vaccine manufacturers and the general public to submit reports of adverse events that occur after vaccination. Anyone can access and search the VAERS database, which includes information such as the type of vaccine administered, the timing of the adverse event and a description of the reported symptoms.

For parents considering whether to vaccinate their child, reviewing VAERS data can be part of the process of making an informed decision. For easy access, see OpenVaers.com.²⁶

• ^{1, 2, 4, 5, 6} CDC, New Findings on Vaccination Coverage and Exemptions Among Kindergartners (2023-2024 School Year)
• ³ U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Healthy People 2030 – Vaccination Objectives
• ⁷ AP News, October 3, 2024
• ⁸ Sci Transl Med. 2018 Mar 21;10(433):eaao5945
• ⁹ Science, March 21, 2018
• ¹⁰ Current Opinion in Virology Volume 40, February 2020, Pages 48-54
• ¹¹ Vaccine. 2021 May 27;39(23):3120-3130
• ¹² American Academy of Pediatrics, June 10, 2019
• ¹³ Pediatrics (2016) 137 (3): e20153326
• ¹⁴ CMAJ November 01, 2016 188 (16) E399-E406
• ¹⁵ SAGE Open Med. 2020 May 27;8:2050312120925344
• ¹⁶ NewportRI.com March 21, 2019
• ¹⁷ Journal of Public Health and Epidemiology September 2014: 6(9); 271-286 (PDF)
• ¹⁸ Children’s Health Defense, August 11, 2020
• ¹⁹ Australian Academy of Science, What Is in a Vaccine?
• ²⁰ Dtsch Arztebl Int. 2017 Sep 29;114(39):653–659
• ²¹ EFSA J. 2008 Jul 15;6(7):754
• ²² Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(8), 7228
• ²³ SciTechDaily.com, January 21, 2020
• ²⁴ Toxics. 2021 Jun 17;9(6):142
• ²⁵ CDC, August 7, 2024
• ²⁶ OpenVaers

(Mercola)—COVID-19 lockdowns accelerated brain aging in adolescents, according to a recent study.¹ The pandemic drastically changed daily routines, leaving many young people struggling with their mental and physical health. You might have noticed how isolation affected teens, especially girls, more than boys. Increased feelings of anxiety and depression became common as social interactions dwindled.²

As the lockdowns wore on, physical fitness levels among young adults began to decline sharply. Reduced opportunities for exercise and more time spent sedentary led to significant drops in both aerobic and anaerobic fitness.³ This decline isn’t just about physical health; it’s closely tied to mental well-being as well.

We’re only now beginning to see the many ways COVID-19 lockdowns impacted adolescent brain development and physical fitness; the full effects likely won’t be apparent for years or decades to come.

The Impact of Lockdowns on Adolescent Brain Development

Adolescence is a critical period for brain maturation, where emotional and social development take center stage. During this time, your brain undergoes significant changes, including synaptic pruning and myelination, which are essential for cognitive and emotional growth. However, the COVID-19 lockdowns disrupted these typical developmental trajectories, particularly in girls.⁴

Researchers used MRI scans to compare brain structures before and after the lockdowns, revealing that young girls experienced more rapid cortical thinning than boys did. Cortical thinning is a natural part of brain development during adolescence, where your brain’s outer layer, the cortex, becomes thinner as it matures.

This process is essential for improving cognitive functions like thinking, memory and emotional regulation. However, the study showed that the lockdowns caused this thinning to happen much faster than usual, especially in female adolescents. Girls experienced a mean brain age acceleration of 4.2 years compared to 1.4 years in boys.

The acceleration in brain maturation is linked to increased stress caused by the pandemic restrictions. Prolonged social isolation and the disruption of daily routines led to higher levels of stress hormones like cortisol. These hormones affect brain development, leading to the accelerated thinning observed in the study.

Moreover, the faster brain maturation in females is concerning because it’s associated with a higher risk of developing mental health issues such as anxiety and depression. The rapid changes in brain structure may interfere with the normal development of emotional and social skills, making adolescents more vulnerable to neuropsychiatric disorders.

The study highlights the critical need for ongoing support and monitoring of adolescents who experienced the lockdowns. Providing mental health resources and promoting healthy lifestyles may help mitigate the negative impacts of accelerated brain aging, but early intervention is essential to address the long-term consequences on young minds.

Autobiographical Memories Impact Mental Health in Lockdown

Another study found that as lockdowns continued, children’s memories of that time became less detailed and more negative over time. Initially, kids could recall specific events and feelings from the lockdown, but as months passed, their memories lost some of that detail and leaned more toward negative emotions.⁵

Psychological well-being among children and adolescents also took a hit during the lockdowns, with girls showing the most significant decline. While all young people experienced increased anxiety and depression, female adolescents were particularly hard-hit, reporting the lowest levels of happiness and the highest levels of depressive symptoms.⁶

The content of these memories played a crucial role in mental health outcomes. Memories that were filled with negative emotions and detailed factual information about COVID-19 and the restrictions predicted poorer psychological well-being over time. Not surprisingly, kids who focused more on the negative aspects and the hard facts about the pandemic struggled more with their mental health.⁷

Overall, the findings suggest that the way children and adolescents remember and narrate their experiences during challenging times significantly influences their mental health. Negative memory narratives lead to worse psychological outcomes, highlighting the need for supportive interventions that help young people process their experiences in healthier ways.⁸

Long-Term Impact of COVID-19 Lockdowns on Physical Fitness in Young Adults

COVID-19 lockdowns also had a significant long-term impact on the physical fitness of young adults.⁹ Researchers conducted a comprehensive analysis involving over 5,300 university freshmen, comparing their physical fitness levels before and after the pandemic lockdowns. Again, not surprisingly, the lockdowns led to notable declines in both aerobic and anaerobic fitness compared to previous years.

The study showed that anaerobic fitness, which is essential for short bursts of intense activity like sprinting, decreased by an average of 0.84 points. More strikingly, aerobic fitness, crucial for sustained activities such as running or cycling, dropped by 2.25 points in males and a more substantial 4.28 points in females. This indicates that young adults became significantly less capable of performing endurance-based activities post-lockdown.

With gyms, parks and sports facilities closed, many young adults found themselves spending more time sitting or engaging in less physically demanding activities like video games or desk work.

Curiously, females experienced greater declines in aerobic fitness compared to their male counterparts. This gender disparity suggests that lockdown measures may have disproportionately affected girls in maintaining their cardiovascular endurance. Possible reasons include differences in how males and females engaged in physical activities during the lockdown or varying access to exercise resources and support systems.

The decline in physical fitness may lead to long-term health issues such as obesity, cardiovascular diseases and metabolic disorders. The study underscores the urgent need to promote physical activity among young adults, especially in the aftermath of lockdowns or similar restrictions. Encouraging regular exercise and reducing sedentary time are essential steps in preventing these negative health outcomes and ensuring that fitness levels recover post-pandemic.

Furthermore, the research highlights that addressing fitness declines is important for supporting the overall health of young adults. Promoting accessible and enjoyable forms of exercise may help mitigate the long-term consequences of the pandemic on youth fitness and well-being.

Lockdowns Led to Vitamin D Deficiency, Worse Birth Outcomes in Pregnant Women

In related news, a team of Spanish researchers looked into the effects of strict lockdown on the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in pregnant women, noting, “In Spain, a strict lockdown (SL) was declared, with the population being confined at home, therefore influencing their exposition to sunlight.”¹⁰

For this study, vitamin D deficiency (VDD) was defined as a vitamin D level below 20 ng/mL, and vitamin D insufficiency as a level between 20 and 30 ng/mL. This is notable, since it represents an extremely low level of vitamin D. While sufficiency begins around 40 ng/mL (100 nmol/L in European measurements), the target range for optimal health is 60 to 80 ng/mL (150 to 200 nmol/L).

If higher levels were used to define vitamin D deficiency in the study, even more women would have been deemed deficient. Still, even using 20 ng/mL as the deficiency cutoff, 55.5% of pregnant women in the region were vitamin D deficient. Among those on strict lockdown (SL), the prevalence was 77.8%.¹¹

While the study stopped short of examining the pregnancy outcomes of lockdown-driven vitamin D deficiency, past research has linked VDD with adverse effects in pregnancy, including pre-eclampsia, gestational diabetes, preterm birth and caesarean delivery.¹²

COVID-19 lockdown was also associated with an increased risk of gestational diabetes, with risk increasing the longer the lockdown continued,¹³ as well as an increased risk of preterm birth.¹⁴

Other studies also suggest that lockdowns negatively affected pregnant women in other ways. For example, in a study comparing women who experienced a Level I lockdown in China during the pandemic with women who did not, the lockdown group had shorter gestational length and a higher risk of preterm birth.¹⁵

Brain Development and Fitness Are Suffering After Pandemic Lockdowns

To conclude, the COVID-19 pandemic had a profound impact on adolescent brain development and physical fitness, particularly in young girls. These effects, coupled with increased stress and prolonged social isolation, have heightened the risk of mental health challenges, including anxiety and depression.

Physical fitness has also taken a significant hit, with both aerobic and anaerobic capacities declining, especially among young women. The shift toward sedentary lifestyles and reduced opportunities for physical activity has had lasting effects on health and well-being, with implications for long-term health outcomes.

To mitigate these impacts, it’s essential to promote regular physical activity, provide mental health support and encourage healthy lifestyle habits. By understanding the unique challenges faced by adolescents during the pandemic, we can develop targeted interventions to support their recovery and ensure a healthier future for our youth.

Early intervention, consistent support and fostering resilience are crucial steps toward helping adolescents navigate these challenging times and safeguarding their mental and physical health.

• ^1, 4 PNAS September 9, 2024, 121(38)
• ^{2, 5, 6, 7, 8} Child Development August 14, 2024
• ^3, 9 Scientific Reports September 18, 2023, volume 13, Article number: 15430 (2023)
• ¹⁰ Nutrients 2023, 15(8), 1972
• ¹¹ Nutrients 2023, 15(8), 1972, Discussion
• ¹² Nutrients 2023, 15(8), 1972, Introduction
• ¹³ Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2022; 13: 824245
• ¹⁴ Front Med (Lausanne). 2021; 8: 705943
• ¹⁵ BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2021; 21: 795

At least according to one registered dietitian nutritionist in Los Angeles, who recently took to Fox News to lay out the risks from ultra-processed foods in the American diet.

Ilana Muhlstein said on Fox news that America’s diet is 60% ultra-processed, but that kids consume even more than that.

“With children, it’s actually over 70%. That is really wild when you think about it,” she said. “What we eat defines how our cells work, how our organs work, and we’re seeing a strong decline in mental health and well-being.”

And a recent BMJ study found that 60% of Americans’ daily calories come from ultra-processed foods (UPFs), which are linked to 32 poor health outcomes, including mental, respiratory, cardiovascular, and metabolic issues like cancer, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes, according to Fox.

Muhlstein added: “We’re actually seeing that this next generation might be the first generation to … have a shorter lifespan than their parents due to nutrition and lifestyle factors.”

A nutritious diet boosts children’s mental well-being, behavior, and academic performance, says Muhlstein, a nutritionist and instructor of “Raising Balanced Eaters.”

While cutting ultra-processed foods entirely is unrealistic, Muhlstein advocates for reversing the typical 70/30 ratio of processed to whole foods, recommending an “80/20 rule”—80% whole foods like eggs, fish, and vegetables, and 20% indulgent foods like chips and ice cream.

For healthier options, Muhlstein suggests swapping ketchup for marinara sauce on chicken nuggets and fries, opting for chicken strips over mechanically processed nuggets, and choosing hamburgers over nitrite-laden hot dogs. Each small change reduces the overall level of food processing.

The nutritionist warns that poor eating habits won’t resolve on their own and encourages exposing kids to diverse flavors and textures early on.

The Fox News report says that sitting down for family meals—without screens—can reduce the risk of eating disorders and promote a healthy relationship with food. Just three to five family meals a week can make a positive difference, fostering better eating habits and family connection.