Herding Immunity: The Startling History of Life Before and After Vaccines

A look at the long history of vaccines, yesterday, today and still to come. In Herding Immunity, Stacy Mintzer Herlihy explores the compelling history of vaccines and the equally long history of vaccination opposition. By connecting the contemporary anti-vax movement with its historical roots, Herlihy integrates modern conversations and reveals the profound impact vaccines have had on our society, highlighting the urgent need for societal change to ensure equitable vaccination for all.

Table of Contents:
Chapter One: Viruses Are Not Our Friends. They Hate Children And Everyone Else. Chapter Two: They Bombed Cotton Mather’s House Chapter Three: The Founding Fathers Were Intensely Pro Vaccine: You’d Be Too If You Had Children Die of Smallpox Chapter Four: Summering With Polio: Life Before the Modern Childhood Vaccination Schedule Chapter Five: The Cutter Incident and The Swine Flu Epidemic That Never Happened: Making Vaccines and Making the Occasional Mistake Chapter Six: Maurice Hilleman and His Chickens Save Millions of People a Year Chapter Seven: The Drive to the Pediatrician's Office is More Dangerous Than Any Vaccine Chapter Eight: Some Vaccines are Profitable. Some Are Not. We Can Do a Better Job Providing Access to All of Them. Chapter Nine: The Man Who Made Parenting Harder: The Story of Andrew Wakefield Chapter Ten: Why is Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Devoting His Life to Cheering On Preventable Diseases? Chapter Eleven: The Anti Vaccination Industry Profits From Spreading Lies on Social Media Chapter Twelve: A Vaccine For Type I Diabetes: Why We Might Have Cures For Diseases That Still Terrify Us Today Chapter Thirteen: Vaccine Voices: Speaking Out For Public Health Chapter Fourteen: Combating Vaccine Hesitancy And Applauding Those Who Go For It: How to Convince People Needless Suffering is a Truly Bad Idea Chapter Fifteen: I Would Get This Vaccine in My Eyeball: How the COVID-19 Vaccine Rescued Us All Chapter Sixteen: Diseases Don’t Stand Still. Neither Does Vaccine Science. Bibliography Notes Index About the Author

About the Author :
Stacy Mintzer Herlihy is a freelance writer and public health advocate based in New Jersey. Herlihy is a Shot@Life Champion and founder of New Jersey Parents For Vaccines. Herlihy’s books include Your Baby’s Best Shot: Why Vaccines are Safe and Save Lives (Rowman & Littlefield, 2012), which was a finalist for Foreword Reviews Book of the Year, Teens and Smoking: Your Questions Answered (2020), and Corporations That Changed the World: Disney (2022).

Review :
In Herding Immunity, the public health writer, journalist, and advocate, Stacy Mintzer Herlihy tells the fascinating story of the history of vaccines in America. She reminds us how antivaccine activism is not new and even goes back to time of the founding colonies, but then takes us through a golden era when parents saw polio and other vaccines as miracle interventions. However, the last couple of decades have not always been kind to vaccines or the scientists who invented them, explaining in a straightforward way how vaccines became falsely linked to autism and other conditions, and the harassment that some of us in the scientific community have endured especially during the COVID pandemic. It is an excellent summary, an easy read, and one which I think will find a wide audience. The campaign to vaccinate against Covid-19 wasn’t the first to encounter a tidal wave of disinformation, although outlets like X and Facebook have proven ideal media for stirring confusion and panic. This well-written, timely and useful book provides historical context, reminds us of what vaccines have achieved and points to their continual promise in our battles with disease.