Massachusetts Citizens for Vaccination Choice

A Shot in the Dark. Harris Coulter & Barbara Loe Fisher: Avery Publishing, 1991.

Adverse Effects of Pertussis and Rubella Vaccines. Institute of Medicine: National Academies Press, 1991.

Adverse Events Associated with Childhood Vaccines: Evidence Bearing on Causality. Institute of Medicine: National Academy Press, 1994.

Evidence of Harm: Mercury Vaccines and the Autism Epidemic. David Kirby: St. Martin’s Griffin, 2006.

How to Raise a Healthy Child...In Spite of Your Doctor. Robert S. Mendelsohn, MD: Ballantine Books, 1987.

Immunization: The Reality Behind the Myth. Walene James: Bergin & Garvey, revised & updated, 1995.

The Immunization Resource Guide. Diane Rozario: Patter Publications, updated periodically.

Multiple Immunizations and Immune Dysfunction. Institute of Medicine: National Academies Press, 2002.

The Parent’s Concise Guide to Childhood Vaccinations. Lauren Feder, MD: Hatherleigh Press, 2007.

Vaccination: A Thoughtful Parent’s Guide. Aviva Jill Romm: Healing Arts Press, 2001.

Vaccination: The Issue of Our Times. Peggy O’Mara: Mothering Magagzine, 1997.

The Vaccine Book. Robert Sears, MD: Little, Brown & Co., 2007.

The Vaccine Guide: Risks and Benefits for Children and Adults. Randall Neustaedter, OMD: North Atlantic Books: revised 2002.

Vaccines: Are They Really Safe and Effective? Neil Miller: New Atlantean Press, revised & updated, 2002.

What Every Parent Should Know About Childhood Immunization. Jamie Murphy: Earth Healing Products, 1993.

When Your Doctor is Wrong: Hepatitis B Vaccine and Autism. Judy Converse, MPH: Xlibris Corp., 2002.

What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Children’s Vaccinations. Stephanie Cave, MD: Grand Central Publishing, 2001.

Not surprisingly, “Are there any support groups in my area?” is one of the questions we are asked most frequently. Regrettably, the short answer is “no,” at least not to our knowledge.

The hopeful news, however, is that in significant ways, the people who have sought us out to ask questions and seek the camaraderie of those with a similar perspective on vaccination have become a community of sorts. We have therefore in the past sent out queries for parents looking to get together with other like-minded people in their immediate areas. We have asked members to recommend doctors for interested parents. And we’ve sent out requests on behalf of parents--content to communicate via email--simply looking to discuss the issue with other parents across the state who have traveled the same path. 

So, are there support groups up and running in Amherst or Provincetown or Springfield? Probably not. Are there folks in the state who might be able to help with your particular concern or question? Yes; let us know and we’ll do our best to help. Alternatively, are you interested in establishing a group in your town or region? If so, we might be able to help you network.

Questioning vaccine mandates is not a mainstream pastime. So we’re all in the position--enviable if arduous--of seeking out and building our own communities of support.

Vaccination as it relates to international travel is admittedly something we know very little about. But because we’ve received queries on this subject, we offer these sites as a starting point for disease alerts in foreign countries and vaccine recommendations for international travelers.

Centers for Disease Control

The Travel Doctor

Because vaccination is to many a rite of passage, it infrequently becomes an issue of debate. So one of our missions is to effectively place a question mark after ‘vaccination,’ clarifying that whatever a person’s ultimate decision, it should be considered first and foremost as one among a constellation of health options.

Our downloadable poster is one tool we’ve created to help underscore the question mark. If you feel inclined, we invite you to print out copies and place them in parent-traveled places around your community--the local coffee shop, the midwife’s office, perhaps the toy store and children’s consignment shop. And others. Maybe they’ll move a few people to become, rather than passive on-lookers, active participants in the vaccination discussion.

Click here for the MCVC downloadable poster
MS Word Format (20 KB)

There are no bumper stickers available at this time. 

MASSACHUSETTS ORGANIZATIONS

Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH)
617.983.6800

New England Patients’ Rights Group
Advocates for the rights of health care consumers.
PO Box 141
Norwood, MA 02062-0002
781.769.5720

VACCINE CHOICE ORGANIZATIONS IN OTHER STATES

Connecticut Vaccine Information Alliance

Illinois Vaccine Awareness Coalition

Michigan Opposing Mandatory Vaccines

New Jersey Coalition for Vaccination Choice

New Yorkers for Vaccination Information and Choice

Texas: Parents Requesting Open Vaccine Education

Vaccine Awareness of Florida

West Virginia for Vaccine Exemption

Click here for information regarding other states and their contacts.

NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)

Association of American Physicians & Surgeons
The only national doctors’ organization that publicly opposed universal hepatitis B vaccination mandates.

Centers for Disease Control (CDC)
800.232.SHOT

National Institutes of Health (NIH)

National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC)
A national non-profit educational organization established in 1982 to ensure access to information and the right to choose with respect to vaccination.
204 Mill Street, Suite B1
Vienna, VA 22180
703.938.DPT3

Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS)
To report a potential adverse vaccine reaction, visit the site or call:
800.822.7967

If you’re looking for a supportive doctor, you can use these websites to find their members nearest you or solicit referrals:

American Association of Naturopathic Physicians
Washington, DC
866-538-2267

Holistic Pediatric Association
“We empower parents to trust their natural wisdom and make informed choices on behalf of their children.”
Santa Rosa, CA
707-237-5312

International Chiropractic Pediatric Association
Media, PA
610-565-2360

Do you need a lawyer with expertise in vaccine law and injury? Here are some to consider:

Kevin Conway and Ronald Homer
Conway, Homer & Chin-Caplan, P.C.
Specializing in vaccine injury litigation.
Boston, MA
Phone: 617-695-1990

You can also visit the National Vaccine Information Center’s lawyer referral webpage.

Do you want to get vaccines separately?

There used to be several pharmacies at which interested people could purchase the individual components of traditionally trivalent vaccines--MMR, DTaP--separately. Regrettably, they’ll not be available for at least two years, said one Merck sales representative this summer. This, coincidentally at the same time pharmaceutical efforts were being devoted to developing a swine flu vaccine. 

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