We're just about to have my wife get her late third trimester Tdap shot (tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis).

I looked into the program, outside studies, the manufacturers, the ingredients, etc. before finally deciding to get the shot.

There are toxic chemicals in this particular vaccine. The Tdap datasheets are PDFs, if you want to Google them. What type and how many vary by manufacturer. Will it hurt my kid? I don't know. Additionally, the manufacturers don't certify the vaccine as safe for pregnant women, and it says so right in the data sheet. The hospitals that issue the vaccine are supposed to "register" all the pregnant women, in order to report adverse effects after they happen.

The problem with not getting the Tdap vaccine, though, is that animal studies have suggested that getting vaccinated against pertussis (Whooping Cough) with the aP (acellular pertussis) version of the vaccine does not prevent you from carrying the disease. In other words, Tdap vaccinated people could very likely be carrying around pertussis, even though it doesn't affect them. The study goes on to suggest that the current vaccine isn't good enough.

Not trying to sound like an "anti vaxxer" or anything. I feel like I'm a compassionate person, and while it makes sense for us to vaccinate in this case, I'm absolutely not going to blindly subscribe to the ideals of others. Some of these vaccines are released without full studies on the populations they're being issued to (in this case, pregnant women), and that's my greatest concern. This particular shot is pushed pretty heavily where I am (Washington State, USA).

Obviously these vaccine manufacturers don't mean to hurt anyone, but they are just another large corporation looking to make a profit. And there's not much competition. In my opinion, that's a valid concern. Ask yourself: Would you vaccinate under any conditions whatsoever? Would you take a whole cell pertussis shot? Would you take a (hypothetical) legally-mandated HIV vaccine that carried a risk of acquiring HIV? Would you take a (again, hypothetical) Tdap shot that contained a mega dose of lead? Just some abstract thought exercises.

The balance between individual liberties and government intervention is an important one, but let's not take it for granted.

Link to the acellular pertussis study: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24277828 FDA page discussing the same study: http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm376937.htm