Actually, to be accurate, herd immunity requires that a sufficiently large proportion of the population be immune, so that the remaining proportion of non-immune individuals are protected by a broken chain of potential infection. It's inherently the definition of herd immunity - the immunity of the greater proportion protects the minor proportion. And the greater the proportion of immune individuals, the greater the protection for the non-immune ones. It might sound like pedantry but it's important to get the facts right in a conversation such as this, otherwise anti-vaxxers will focus on the errors as proof of overall incorrectness.

It really is madness. I’ve worked with autistic children for many years. Me and most who work with that population agree that its something that occurs in the womb during development. Why? It’s the shocking amount of identical twins we see with autism. Twins who no doubt shared the same amniotic sac and were subject to the same developmental issues. It’s not genetic that’s clear too. We just have to find out what’s going on in development. A lot of think it is something in the environment, chemical, or otherwise that is used very commonly within the last 20 years that is causing this issue in some women while they are pregnant. One day the mystery will be solved and these antivaxers will be put to shame.

But there is no risk of the child becoming autistic due to the vaccine.

I must be of the same generation I will never forget the twins who both had been victims of polio in 1970 we were age 6 or 7 - both in metal calipers from the waist down - all it takes for protection is a pink sugar lump

We used to have chicken pox parties - seriously. Sounds really odd - but chicken pox was less serious the younger you were and parents would deliberately allow their child to contract it to "get it over with" dont know if there is a vaccine against it now = personally didnt get it til i was 12 and it was horrible

Well, they ARE idiots.

how about how much the extreme prices of insurance & medi-care have shot through the roof once smokers were made to be punished, banished, carried all our sins, only to be greatly overtaken by the overweight & obese sky rocketing medical care. yeah, it's all a fine mess, ain't it though.

It isn't hate. Firstly, people don't really think their child runs the risk of becoming sick or dead if they don't vaccinate, they think it's a tiny, almost impossible risk. (We know they increase the risk but they bypass that.) People are good at convincing themselves of what they want to believe. People are scared of autism, not because they hate autistic children, but because they are scared that they won't be able to cope with a disabled child. It's fear about their abilities. It's an emotional response and so they seek the rational to justify it. I don't agree with anti-vaxxers at all but people fear what they don't understand.

I got measles age 3/4 . Before the vaccination program in the UK got going properly. I wasvery ill and presumed to die, all my family came to see me and say goodbye - vaccinate vaccinate