If you think that the link between autism and the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine has been debunked or that Dr. Andrew Wakefield is the “father of the anti-vaccination movement” then the film Vaxxed will be a true eye-opener.
Vaxxed is the feature film at Sooke Film Awareness Night on Feb. 8.
This movie begins by looking at the 2013 revelation of a senior scientist with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that there was a 2004 study (the results of which were immediately rejected) that showed African-American boys who received the vaccine before the age of three were 360 per cent more likely to develop autism.
Film Awareness Night coordinator Jo Phillips said this is not an anti-vaccination movie, rather, both the film and discussion afterwards with Dr. Anke Zimmermann are an opportunity to gain understanding about how to make vaccinations safer for children.
“Bear in mind that today’s North American child receives somewhere around 49 doses of vaccines by the age of six,” Phillips said. “For comparison, in 1962 children received only five and in 1982 a young child would have gotten about 20 doses of vaccines.”
Zimmermann is a naturopathic doctor with a special interest in developmental and behavioural disorders. She has many years experience with the identification and treatment of vaccine injuries.
Phillips hopes the film will get some discussion going.
“We want everyone to be heard, no matter what your sense is regarding vaccination,” she said.
The film will be screened in the Edward Milne Community School theatre, 6218 Sooke Rd., beginning at 7 p.m.
Admission is by donation.