The New, New, New Unmath
To paraphrase our Irish ancestors, “Sweet Mother of God, where did these guys buy their ‘medical degrees’ and ‘math skills.’?”
In the Oval Office on October 10, President Donald Trump introduced his “Gold Standard Childhood Vaccine Recommendations.” (Could it possibly be anything other than a “gold standard”????)
Accompanied by his Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., the president insisted that American infants, children and teens are receiving “Large amounts of vaccine, large amounts of like vats of vaccine are currently pumped into your child’s body.”
What in the name of Saint Hubert of Liege (656-727 AD), patron saint of mathematicians, was he talking about?
At 0.5mL per vaccine, a 20-ounce plastic container of Coke or Pepsi holds more than 1,183 doses of the hepatitis vaccine administer to children and teens. “More than” because, depending on the child’s age and size, doctors inject less than 0.5 milliliters – usually 0.1 to 0.3 milliliters per vaccination.
Historically, a vat was an old English measure for dry volumes of grain or coal; a “vat” of beer or wine can contain between 5,000 and 50,000 gallons.
So, the statement “like vats of vaccine are currently pumped into your child’s body” is either pathetically ill-informed or an outright lie.
Trump’s statements “I've seen proof of it. Where they have a vaccination that looks like the size of a bottle of soda poured into a little child’s body” and “In many cases, we were requiring 72 jabs for our beautiful, healthy, lovely, delicate little children" are either a reflection of aspirin-induced hallucinations or, again, outright lies. In 2025, the CDC childhood vaccination schedule recommended a total of 72 vaccinations – between birth and age 18-years for protection against 18 diseases. Depending on brands used, the availability of combination shots and the child’s starting age, the number of injections was closer to three dozen, not counting annual flu or COVID shots; and some vaccines are now available as nasal sprays.
Of course, basic mathematics and science are not the greatest strengths of an administration that claimsthe cost of some medicines are being reduced by “300, 400, 500 or even 600 percent” (DJT, February 5) and the alleged “vandalism” of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is simultaneously “a 250-foot-long gash” (DJT, June 20) and “300 yards long” (DJT, July 13) - numerical phenomena exceeded only by “the Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes.”
During an April U.S. House of Representatives Energy & Commerce Health Subcommittee hearing pediatric physician and Representative from Washington’s 8th Congressional District Kim Schrier asked Secretary Kennedy, Jr. to endorse the idea of giving all newborns a vitamin K shot. Representative Schrier noted that because Kennedy had fostered an atmosphere of distrust around physicians and vaccines, “some parents are now refusing the vitamin K shot [to prevent brain bleeds] and other routine care, putting these babies at risk for bleeding out.”
"Parents don't immunize their children or give them other routine care, and then the kids get sick and they might even die," she added. "And right now, Secretary Kennedy, given what I just told you about vitamin K, will you just tell pregnant women out there for the record that, yes, you should get your baby a vitamin K shot?"
When Kennedy demurred that he had never said anything about the vitamin K injection (it is not a vaccine, rather an injection to boost an infant’s level of vitamin K – something babies cannot produce in sufficient quantity in the early weeks/months of life, cannot receive in effective amounts in utero or through breast feeding), Schrier responded “That’s exactly the point. You don’t say anything about it. But the doubt you’ve created about all of medicine and science is causing parents to make dangerous decisions.”
In a literature review presented during the 2026 American Academy of Neurology meeting, researchers noted that more parents are refusing to permit the vitamin K shot for their newborns. Study author Kate Semidey, MD of the Florida International University in Miami declared, "This trend is concerning because our review also found that babies who do not get the vitamin K injection are 81 times more likely to develop vitamin K deficiency bleeding."
The medical abbreviation VKDB doesn’t rise to the level of “frightening,” but Vitamin K Deficiency Bleeding (or even the slightest risk of VKDB) is terrifying.
An April 20 poster session during the same meeting of the American Academy of Neurology gives perspective to the terror:
“Intramuscular (IM) vitamin K prophylaxis at birth prevents vitamin K deficiency bleeding (VKDB), a rare but severe condition. Late VKDB often presents with intracranial hemorrhage (ICH), carrying 15-20% mortality and up to 50% long-term neurological disability. Despite proven safety, refusal of IM vitamin K is rising worldwide, paralleling vaccine hesitancy…”
The report’s conclusion:
“Across case series, ~63% present with ICH [intracranial hemorrhaging], ~14% die, and ~40% of survivors sustain neurological disability. Refusal also predicts later healthcare hesitancy…” [EDITORS’ NOTE: In scientific papers, the symbol ~ means “approximately,” “about” or “in the order of.”]
“Vitamin K refusal, though uncommon, is rising and poses disproportionate neurological risk, leading to preventable infant death and lifelong disability. It also marks broader healthcare hesitancy.”
In an extended article complete with CAT scan images showing a child’s multiple brain bleeds, the National Library of Medicine (“A Case of Vitamin k Deficiency Bleeding in a Newborn: Catastrophic Yet Preventable,” Nmadu, Bernhard, Klawinski et al, July 8, 2024) makes the case for vitamin K injection immediately after birth:
“A four-week-old full-term male infant presented to the emergency department with blood in the diaper, increasing lethargy, and vomiting and was found to have multiple intracranial hemorrhages on CT. He was delivered at home and did not receive vitamin K. Coagulation studies were abnormal, and des-gamma carboxyprothrombin (DCP) was 481, diagnostic of vitamin K deficiency. He received vitamin K and required multiple antiepileptic medications for seizure control. Vitamin K deficiency bleeding (VKDB) is a preventable disease that can have devastating consequences and could present as early, classical, or late-onset. The typical presentation manifests with cutaneous, gastrointestinal, or intracranial hemorrhage most commonly in fully breastfed infants. Vitamin K prophylaxis has proven to be effective. With increasing out-of-hospital delivery and online misinformation, there is a declining administration of intramuscular vitamin K at birth. It is the responsibility of healthcare providers to properly inform patients and their families of the importance of vitamin K prophylaxis at or before the time of delivery.”
In the same White House press conference, the president and secretary recommended separating the elements of the MMR (Mumps, Measles and Rubella) vaccine. THE PROBLEMS: Stand-alone vaccines were discontinued in the U.S. in 2009 - 2010 and it could take years to resurrect them; multiple doctors’ visits would drive up costs for families and lapses or failures to complete a cycle can increase the likelihood of outbreaks for all three diseases.
A Center for Disease Control and Prevention report on August 14, indicated 2,566 confirmed cases of measles across 46 states and the District of Columbia and 2,407 were related to outbreaks starting in 2026; 67 percent of those infections involved patients younger than 20 years old. Measles was declared eliminated in the U.S. in 2000; it remains to be seen if that status will continue through 2026. On August 14, the nationwide count was higher than anyannual count since 1991 – with five and a half months remaining in the year.
The CDC (“About the Vaccines for Children Program,” September 30, 2025) describes the Vaccines for Children (VFC) program, part of the August 1993 Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (OBRA), as a response to “the 1989-1991 measles epidemic in the United States [that] resulted in tens of thousands of cases of measles and hundreds of deaths.”
“When this epidemic was investigated, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that more than half of the children who had measles had not been vaccinated against measles, even though many of them had seen a healthcare provider. Cost of the vaccine was found to be a primary reason for children going unvaccinated even in families with a regular health care provider.”
Rather than risk someone objecting that we’re only using CDC and American “vested interests” references we’ll summarize a Canadian Paediatric Association report (“When parents choose not to vaccinate: Risks and responsibilities,” November 23, 2023):
Measles can cause brain swelling, which can lead to brain damage or death. Complications occur in about 10% of cases. For every 1,000 cases of measles,
1 or 2 of those people will die.
Mumps can cause permanent deafness.
Meningitis can also lead to permanent deafness or brain damage.
Polio can cause permanent paralysis.
Pertussis (whooping cough”) kills between 1 and 4 babies in Canada every year. About 1 in 400 babies who survive pertussis has permanent brain damage.
Tetanus kills 10% or more of its victims.
“Thanks to combination vaccines, your child can get protection from many different diseases with one injection (shot). Examples include MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) and the 5-in-1 vaccine (diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, Hib disease). Studies show that combination vaccines are safe and effective. There is no reason for your child to get the vaccines one at a time. Getting more than one vaccine at once also means no delay in protection, fewer medical visits and fewer needles (which can be less traumatic).
“Vaccines begin at 2 months of age to protect babies as early in life as possible against diseases that can make them very sick (such as pertussis). Babies respond well to vaccines at a very young age. Side effects from vaccination are not more common in young babies than older children.
“No, the MMR vaccine does not cause autism. There is no scientific evidence to support this claim. Because signs of autism may appear around the same age that children receive the MMR vaccine, some people believe the vaccine causes the condition.
“Much of the controversy over the MMR vaccine and autism came from a single paper published in 1998 that suggested a link. The report has been found to be fraudulent and was withdrawn by the journal that published it. Many large scientific studies around the world have found no link between the MMR vaccine and autism.
“There is no evidence to link any other vaccines to autism. The number of children with autism seems to have increased in recent years. This is because the diagnosis of autism now includes children with milder symptoms who would not have been included in the past. There is also greater public awareness of autism, and more parents are seeking help. Scientists recently found a gene linked to autism.
“There is no evidence linking thimerosal (a preservative once used in vaccines) to autism or any other developmental disorder. Also, thimerosal has not been used in infant and childhood vaccines for many years. Yet the numbers of children with autism continued to increase, even after thimerosal stopped being used in vaccines.”
On December 23, 2025, under Kennedy and Trump the CDC rescinded the long-standing advice on universal hepatitis B vaccination of newborns. We’re not physicians – and don’t pretend to be. As clergy with theological educations, we’ll observe that the Trump-Kennedy move is borderline sinful.
Many Americans consider Hepatitis B a sexually transmitted disease and, as a result, are uninformed about the risks of contracting this disease or the chronic long-term effects of liver failure, cirrhosis and liver cancer that come from being infected.
However, the Immunization Action Coalition of the World Health Organization and the CDC estimated 1.25 million people in the U.S. are chronically infected with the Hepatitis B, resulting in an estimated 2,000 – 4,000 deaths each year and 30% - 40% of these chronic infections were acquired during childhood.
Those numbers alone should cause parents and parents-to-be to reject the Trump-Kennedy “recommendations” and rely on physicians who recommend Hep-B vaccines.
The virus remains viable and infectious in the environment for at least 7 days and can remain present in inanimate objects absent visible blood. Since only 7 out of 10 infected adults show any signs or symptoms and infected children under age 5 rarely show any symptoms at all, it is obvious how the infected population can easily, and unknowingly, be transmitting the disease to others. Hep-B can be spready by blood and body fluids, through childhood scraps, cuts, nose bleeds and even bites from frustrated playmates.
It appears that the new “gold standard” may, at best, be tin.
Before turning to Pope Francis for his thoughts on vaccines, here a link to a really good (and short) just-about-everything-you-need-to-know-about-vaccines presentation:
https://youtu.be/qzWYuAyTQ8Y?si=oq2faVjo6DPVW0KB
"Being vaccinated with vaccines authorized
by the competent authorities is an act of love.
And contributing to ensure the majority of people
are vaccinated is an act of love —
love for oneself, love for one's family
and friends, love for all people."
"Vaccination is a simple but profound way
of promoting the common good and caring for each other,
especially the most vulnerable.
Love is also social and political;
it is built up through small, individual gestures
capable of transforming and improving societies."
Pope Francis