(soft music) - What up, Myles Bess, host of "Above The Noise."

So how about that COVID-19 vaccine?

Whole lot of controversy around it, am I right?

On one hand, you've got people who are anxiously waiting to get vaccinated, who can't get an appointment.

And then on the other hand, you've got some people who don't want it at all.

I don't know about y'all, but when it's available to me, I definitely plan on getting it.

I miss being outside without feeling anxious.

And I don't like the way the mask rubs up against my beard.

I've been doing it, but I just don't like the way it feels.

And then on top of all that, you've also got kids and teens that also want to get it when it's approved for them, but whose parents aren't on board.

Which has got me thinking, should teens be able to get vaccines without their parents' permission?

We all need a bunch of vaccines, if we want to go to school here in the U.S. All 50 States have laws requiring specific vaccines for students, but there are exemptions that vary from state to state.

There's exemptions for religious, personal, moral or other beliefs.

And that's having an impact.

One in 10 parents in the United States are delaying or just downright ignoring the CDC recommended vaccination timeline for their kids, altogether.

But there's also a growing movement from teens to be able to get all vaccines COVID or otherwise without parental consent.

I've seen post on Reddit, TikToK, and all over social media of folks turning 18 and wondering what vaccines they missed out on and of young people trying to get vaccinated without their parents' permission.

I'm gonna just read one for you.

"I feel like my parents used me as a test subject for their beliefs.

I don't want to die from a preventable disease."

I'm gonna just let y'all sit with that for a second.

I asked this on social media and y'all definitely have a lot of opinions.

I'm gonna read some of the responses.

"I believe that neither side is right, because if a child is wanting to get the vaccine, but their parents say, no, I find that a bit unfair because the kid wants to stay safe as possible.

But I also see what parents mean since the vaccine is new and most parents don't trust it."

Another response, "I believe minors should be able to get vaccinated without parents or guardians permission because it's the minor's body, not the parents."

And another one says, "COVID vaccines without parental permission?

Yes, a thousand times yes."

Okay, It seems like a lot of you feel that teens should be able to make this decision, but I wanted to look into why vaccines are so controversial in the U.S.

So as I've been researching this episode, I discovered that controversies around vaccines aren't new.

Remember smallpox, if not, it's probably because it was eradicated like 40 years ago or something.

But before that, it was a disease that Europeans brought to America that killed off a bunch of native Americans just to be blunt with it.

And according to the CDC, on average smallpox killed three out of every 10 people who got it.

But as far back as the end of the 19th century, like when smallpox was raging and everywhere, there was this Anti-Vaccine Society of America that tried to block vaccine legislation in a bunch of states.

More recently, there's been a huge anti-vaccine movement that's been fueled by a lot of misinformation.

A big one being a now debunked study that mistakenly linked measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine to autism.

Despite this being debunked, that rumor spread like well, measles and caused a lot of fear over vaccines.

But to be clear, vaccines are a public health wonder and they've saved countless lives by preventing people from getting sick.

We've even managed to eradicate smallpox and nearly eradicate polio.

Let's take a closer look at polio, not a nice disease, but which ones are?

It can cause paralysis and even death.

And it's spread through contact with poop, gross or people sneezing also gross.

And when it peaked in the 1940s and 50s, it paralyzed or killed over half a million people worldwide every year.

But thanks to vaccines, it's nearly gone.

Polio virus cases have gone down by over 99% since 1988 from an estimated 350,000 cases to just 33 reported cases in 2018.

For comparison's sake, 113 people fall off ladders and die every year in the United States.

How did this happen?

Well, there was a huge global vaccination effort, but polio is a good illustration of why vaccines are not always a simple one and done situation.

There seems to be an uptick in cases last year in places like Afghanistan and Pakistan, where the COVID pandemic for sanitation and wars have caused the resurgence in polio cases which just proves that access is super important to keep these diseases in check.

So since it's not entirely gone, it's still important for kids to get the polio vaccine.

There's no outright cure for polio, but a series of four vaccine shots will protect the child for life.

Here's some other horrible diseases that we've been able to put in check by vaccines.

Now you're probably looking at this list like I've never heard of some of these, or they're not that serious.

Exactly people used to get really sick and die from these, but now we don't see them as a big deal, ta-ta vaccines.

And when enough people are vaccinated, it protects the people who can't get vaccinated, like folks who are too young or who are not in good health or who are at risk for serious reactions or who simply don't have access to it.

And that's kinda the whole concept of herd immunity.

Now, our homies over at "It's okay to be smart" did an entire episode on that if you want to learn more, check it out.

And we've seen what happens in communities when people don't get vaccinated, old diseases start popping up again.

Like I just said about polio creeping back.

There's also measles outbreaks that have happened in communities with large anti-vaxxer populations.

In 2019, the United States saw the second highest rates of measles since 1992 talk about backtracking.

But despite the health benefits, there are lots of people who are afraid of vaccines or they just don't want to take them themselves or let their kids get them.

- Obviously people have beliefs for a reason.

They're not trying to harm their children.

I think it's obviously important to recognize that that obviously belief, there's some core either it's a religious, it's cultural, they're afraid of side effects.

They wanna protect their children.

They're not trying to subject them to preventable harm.

But I do also think it's important to recognize that there is this harm that is preventable and that this teenager is at risk for.

- That's Kelly Danielpour, a high school senior who founded Vaxteen a resource site for teens that aims to answer questions about vaccines.

Now I found out about her while I was researching this episode, looking for info on where teens can get vaccinated without parents' permission.

- I think it's very easy to see everything that's online.

And there is a lot of information out there that's scary and contradictory - And it's true.

Vaccines do carry certain risks and side effects.

Heck, every time I go get a vaccine, my doctor always provides me with a little cheat sheet of the risk and possible side effects.

Like, this is what the CDC says about the flu shot.

Let me get my commercial voice ready.

Common side effects from the flu shot include soreness, redness, and or swelling from the shot.

Headache, fever, nausea, muscle aches.

Why do they always try to put the calmest voice as they're reading you these side effects that are definitely going to hurt or like annoy you if you get them?

You know what I mean?

But anyway, that's not what we're talking about.

On the super rare occasion, you might have more serious side effects that can happen like fainting or the possibility of GBS, a disease that can cause nerve damage and temporary paralysis.

But it's super rare.

Like when I say super rare, I really mean it.

Like there's fewer than one or two cases of GBS per one million people who get vaccinated for the flu and keep in mind, in order for a vaccine to get approved, it has to go through a pretty rigorous testing and clinical trials to prove that the benefits outweigh the risk and that the side effects or risks are really low.

Now that's a complex process involving multiple phases of first testing on animals and then small groups of human volunteers gradually working its way to a bigger group and then different regulatory agencies before it can even reach the market.

The COVID-19 vaccine development process definitely turbo boosted this which can normally take years, but it still followed all of these steps.

As of the filming of this video, the COVID-19 vaccine isn't available yet to teens or kids.

Now the Pfizer vaccine is the exception.

It's approved for teens 16 and older, but things are moving quickly.

So make sure you do your Google to see if and when it's available to you today.

Like if you're watching this, you know what I mean?

Like if you're watching this in the future, because it will be the future from when I recorded it.

Does that make sense?

Just to do your Googles, please and thank you.

So there's this predicament, right?

What do you do with teens who are listening to doctors and public health experts and wanna get the vaccine, but whose parents are opposed?

Well, some States do have laws that allow for this, but the laws vary state by state and they vary on the specific kind of vaccine, which is part of the reason that Kelly started Vaxteen in the first place.

- I realized how incredibly confusing the issue was.

There are a lot of States now recently have passed bills that are directly, explicitly saying a minor can consent to vaccination.

Though those bills are very hard to pass.

For over for over 10 years, New York has had a bill every year trying to do this.

But I think it's incredibly important to give young people the tools they need and to be a resource and be of aid.

- Even if you have the legal rights, it's still your parents and that can be a tough conversation to be completely honest.

Researching this episode, I found some vaccine choice groups that believe it's their right as the parent to decide what goes into their child's body.

And I mean, I kinda get it.

I don't have kids myself, but I wouldn't want people telling me how to raise them.

They're my responsibility, not the States and not anybody else's.

And one of the reasons why parental consent for medical care is the norm in the first place is because of the idea that young people lack experience and maturity to make informed decisions.

But the problem is what happens when your parents are the ones that are misinformed.

- I think whenever we talk about vaccines, we always talk about parents that sole decision makers.

We don't really talk about the kid.

And they were the ones who grew up in a house where they were being told or whatever from whatever stage they were being told about the dangerous or why they shouldn't be vaccinated.

And then they were able to look beyond that and arm themselves with information, do this.

And so I think for me, it was just making their journey as easy as possible and giving them everything they could need.

- If you're a teen and you want to learn more, check out unity4teenvax and Vaxteen to find laws in your state or vaccine safety information you can share with your parents.

There's links in the description below.

So what do you all think?

Should teens be allowed to get vaccines without parental approval?

What things do you think lawmakers should consider when deciding?

as always I'm your host Myles Bess, peace out.