NVIC Vaccine News

NVIC’s Year In Review – Many Thanks to Our Supporters!

By Theresa Wrangham
Published December 14, 2011 in Rights & Ethics


The holiday season is already upon us and our “to do” lists are getting longer but I wanted to take time to share some of NVIC’s 2011 achievements with you before the year ends. Everything we accomplished this year would not have been possible without the generosity of caring people like you.
 
There are many worthy charities asking you to make a donation before the end of the year. Please know that your tax-deductible gift to NVIC will make a big difference in the lives of others. Here are a few of the letters we received from those we helped this year and I hope their words warm your heart as much as they did mine:
 
I received the DT vaccine in the afternoon, next day I woke up with a colossal headache which turned into bone pain. After a week of that, numbness started up my arms and legs. My doctor denied the vaccine was responsible, denied again after the bone pain started, finally admitted after checking out my leg numbness and weakness that the vaccine might be responsible. My doctor would not make a report to VAERS.  NVIC was very supportive, even called me long distance.  Helped me make the report to VAERS.  A neurologist, who was not able to get a response to tapping my knees with the hammer, came up with the diagnoses that I was allergic to the Tetanus vaccine.  I was sent home with the instruction to come back if I didn't get better.  What a joke.  I felt the medical system completely let me down, without an ounce of help.  I want to thank NVIC for the help they provided to me while going through the adverse reaction to the DT vaccine. Please don't stop the work you do!”  - A vaccine injured adult healing in Ohio
 
“Thank you for all the work and knowledge you provide to the autism spectrum community. My prayer is that many more children will exponentially benefit from organizations like yours over this next year. We are so grateful for the recovery of our son. The future that would be laid out for him without organizations like yours that followed their hearts is hard to imagine. We are grateful and hope that this support in some way takes another child to the place where they can know their full potential.” Thankful parent donors in Georgia
 
“I live in New Jersey and would like to thank you for sending me this email Alert.  The Advocacy Portal made it very simple for me to contact my representatives.  I let them know I will continue to vote out of office anyone who opposes providing all taxpayers with the same equal right to make informed healthcare choices.” – An empowered user of the NVIC Advocacy Portal 
 
“Thank you so much for all that you do. Your video commentary message is so factual and needed. I have sent to all that I know and I pray they watch it and consider it in their heart. I am a nurse and I can tell you that we are taught to strongly encourage all parents to follow the rules. But know this, most of us do NOT even know what is in a vaccine and we have been conditioned to believe it is the best for you and your child. We need all of you to stand up with courage to our pressure and educate us on the truth. You would be surprised at the impact you can make when you come into our office armed with knowledge, research, confidence, patience and more professionalism than most of us. Do not back down.” – A nurse posting on an NVIC.org commentary
 
Who is protecting our rights to protect our own children? Thank you for going against the grain, fighting for our rights, and receiving the backlash of the harm that comes to you as individuals mauled by big money's greed. Please keep being a voice.”  - A grateful NVIC supporter
 
 
I also wanted to share with you some of our accomplishments as we continue to meet public demand for vaccine information and support.
 
NVIC.org Website 
  • 350,000 new visitors and 1 million page views. 
  • Re-designed homepage with enhanced navigation and new, referenced content for seasonal influenza, meningococcal, anthrax, chickenpox, shingles, diphtheria and Ask 8 If You Vaccinate. 
  • Upgrades to the Vaccine Ingredient Calculator (VIC), which attracted over 38,000 new visitors from 133 nations; 
  • Expanded search features on the MedAlerts database, making it easier to research vaccine reaction reports made to the federal government. 
  • Significant increases in reports posted on the Memorial to Vaccine Victims and Vaccine Freedom Wall. More than HALF of the 243 harassment reports posted on the Vaccine Freedom Wall were made in 2011! 
  • Investigate Gardasil Risks Now! Petition has more than 16,000 signatures with descriptions of Gardasil vaccine reactions, injuries and deaths added every week.
  • State Vaccine Choice Advocacy
    • Over 15,000 subscribers from all 50 states are using NVIC’s free online NVIC Advocacy Portal and are working to protect and expand vaccine exemptions in state public health laws.
    • In 2011, 17 volunteer state directors were trained; over 50 bills in 25 states that affect vaccine exemptions were tracked; assistance was provided to citizens filing bills for conscientious or philosophical exemptions in six states; more than 70 bill status announcements and Action Alerts were issued to Portal users in 18 states responding to attacks on vaccine exemptions led by the Pharma/Medical lobby.
Public Education Programs 
  • Internet-based educational outreach programs brought over 37 million new visitors to NVIC’s Facebook page, which now has more than 30,000 fans. The NVICLoeDown Twitter site and Facebook page each made nearly 3,000 postings.  In 2011, Facebook fans and Twitter followers tripled!
  • 23 referenced written and video commentaries were published in NVIC’s Vaccine E-newsletters. Video commentaries posted on You Tube attracted more than 277,000 new visitors, and our e-newsletter subscribers doubled! 
  • The second annual Vaccine Awareness Week, which NVIC co-sponsored with Mercola.com, reached several million people and included an online premiere of a new award winning documentary about the vaccine debate, THE GREATER GOOD, that includes NVIC’s perspective on vaccine safety and choice. 
  • NVIC co-sponsored the Vaccine Safety: Evaluating the Science Conference,” at which invited participants gave presentations on the science, policy, law and ethics of vaccination and called for more and better quality vaccine safety science.    
  • Six national press releases were picked up by hundreds of major news outlets around the world.   
  • Two national public education campaigns reached millions of people: A 15-second message about vaccine risk awareness appeared hourly on the CBS Times Square JumboTron during March and April and NVIC sponsored a three minute video about flu prevention on Delta Air Lines in-flight programming during November. 
Consumer Representation - NVIC staff and volunteers spent hundreds of hours representing consumer vaccine safety concerns by serving on federal vaccine advisory committees; offering public comment during federal advisory committee meetings; and participating in public engagement meetings on (1) expanding the use of meningococcal vaccine; (2) testing of anthrax vaccine on children; and (3) exploring options to improve  federal vaccine safety oversight, regulation and policymaking.
 
Staff & Volunteers 
 
  • Two trained vaccine reaction counselors were added and our counseling staff responded to more than 1,600 phone calls, emails and reports of vaccine reactions, injuries and deaths in 2011. 
  • Our small staff of professionals with expertise in writing, communications and media relations; legislation and grassroots advocacy; video production; website development, and administration is now assisted by 20 volunteers, including those providing major volunteer support in the key areas of research and patient safety, government affairs, MedAlerts and the Vaccine Ingredient Calculator.
Scientific Research Program - Two scientific research projects were funded in 2011, in addition to the one funded in 2010, made possible by donations raised at NVIC’s Fourth International Public Conference on Vaccination in 2009 and from the Albert & Claire Dwoskin Family Foundation. Research is focused on gathering and analyzing information about short and long-term health outcomes for vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals. Results will be published in the peer-reviewed literature.
 

Your Support Makes a Difference!
 
As always, we strive to make every donor dollar count at NVIC. We were able to touch many lives this year because of donations from people who care, like you. We could double in 2012 the numbers of people our charity served in 2011. All we need is YOUR donation support and vote of confidence!
 
More Ways to Support NVIC!
 
NVIC relies on direct donations but there are additional ways to offer support during the holidays and throughout the year when you shop, dine-out, use your credit cards and search the Internet. 
  • Take Us Shopping:  NVIC is a registered charity with GoodShop, a shopping and coupon portal that donates a percentage of almost every purchase from more than 2,500 stores (including Gap, Target, Staples and Macy's) to charitable non-profits.  Save money at the same time you are donating to NVIC! Sign up for GoodShop today!
  • Redeem Credit Card Points: Convert unused credit card points into charitable donations. Check with your credit card provider to learn more. Both American Express and Citi Card offer this program.
  • Give while Searching the Internet: Use GoodSearch.com, a Yahoo!-powered search engine that donates about a penny per search to NVIC when you identify NVIC as your cause.
  • Donate While Dining: GoodDining.com donates up to 6 percent of the money you spend on a meal at 10,000 restaurants across the country to designated charities and you could donate to NVIC. 
Your tax deductible gift during this holiday season allows NVIC to continue in 2012 the lifesaving work we began 30 years ago - to educate consumers about diseases, vaccines, informed consent and preventing vaccine injuries and deaths.
 
From our family to yours, Happy Holidays and we wish you many blessings and good health in the New Year!
 
 

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