To the Editor:

I would like to add a few facts to the letter “Maybe everyone should rethink vaccines.”

Fact: More than 684,000 adverse events following vaccination, including hospitalizations, injuries and deaths, have been reported to the federal government since 1990. This number is estimated to represent less than 1 percent of all vaccine adverse events that have actually occurred.

Fact: The U.S. government now recommends that children receive 58 doses of 13 vaccines, with 41 doses given by the age of 6.

Fact: Vaccine policy and mandates have helped to create a global vaccine market now projected to bring a staggering $57 billion dollars to drug companies by 2025.

One of the most politically powerful public-private partnerships in the world today is the lucrative one that has been forged by the pharmaceutical industry with government, mainstream media and wealthy philanthropic foundations with political agendas.

These facts go a long way in explaining why mainstream media outlets have been united in attacking parents and physicians who defend the ethical principal of informed consent, including informed consent to vaccination, and are calling for vaccine exemptions to be severely restricted or eliminated.

The responsibility for the crisis of trust in the global vaccination system lies with those who operate the system and refuse to acknowledge the suffering of the people harmed by vaccines.

Sheila Swaja

Mt. Vernon