It seems like you’re trying to analyze the wrong things. Second-guessing motives for recommendations that apply to large variant populations is a losing game, and you missed what may be a fairly large reason: prevalence of the disease in that region. In any case, ignore politics and look at expected value and risks of each option AS IT APPLIES TO YOU.
Where will you be living/visiting? What is the actual incidence and cost of these diseases, and what are the network effects of many people being immunized vs not? I worry that you think the biggest cost of chicken pox is staying home with a sick kid—the actual biggest risk is that the kid WON’T get it as a kid (because all the neighbors and other kids are immunized), and will instead get it as an adult when it can be very serious.
Shots aren’t terribly expensive, the pain of the stick is fleeting, and the chance of serious side-effects is quite low. Compare that to the pain and probability of the disease, and I’d generally say take all you can get. My default would be the union of recommendations for anywhere I expect the kid to visit, rather than the intersection.
It seems like you’re trying to analyze the wrong things. Second-guessing motives for recommendations that apply to large variant populations is a losing game, and you missed what may be a fairly large reason: prevalence of the disease in that region. In any case, ignore politics and look at expected value and risks of each option AS IT APPLIES TO YOU.
Where will you be living/visiting? What is the actual incidence and cost of these diseases, and what are the network effects of many people being immunized vs not? I worry that you think the biggest cost of chicken pox is staying home with a sick kid—the actual biggest risk is that the kid WON’T get it as a kid (because all the neighbors and other kids are immunized), and will instead get it as an adult when it can be very serious.
Shots aren’t terribly expensive, the pain of the stick is fleeting, and the chance of serious side-effects is quite low. Compare that to the pain and probability of the disease, and I’d generally say take all you can get. My default would be the union of recommendations for anywhere I expect the kid to visit, rather than the intersection.