What?
Why?
That is weird.
In many countries, when children are given the Polio Vaccine, their pinkie nail is stamped with purple dye.
Did you know that the polio vaccine is live and must remain cold, or it will spoil?
The effort involved in manufacturing, transporting, and administering the Polio vaccine to the ends of the earth so it can be available to everyone, is pretty beautiful (Don't worry, this video is a happy success story, not a sad one about the horrors of Polio)
Incredible, right?
After 25 years of organizing and hosting national immunization days and administering BILLIONS of vaccines worldwide, efforts are finally paying off.
Polio has been 99% eradicated!
That is something to celebrate.
But what about the one percent?
Really. ONE percent is keeping a disease from being totally stamped out, forever.
The problem is that one percent can turn back into two percent, then grow to 3 percent, then five percent, then ten percent. And then we've got a problem.
But right now, it's only one percent. We are so close to never having to worry about Polio again!
Immunity works as a blanket protection and I can't have holes in the blanket around my children.
I refuse to contribute to the 1% keeping Polio alive, so I've painted my pinkie purple, and I am spreading awareness by telling everyone I know that vaccines are safe.
They are safe. You know that, right? If you don't know that...please, call me. Let's talk.
I'm keeping my pinkie purple until the official Purple Pinkie Day on February 23, which is when I hope you'll bust out the nail polish, and join me in the fight to raise awareness for vaccines, and stamp out Polio forever.
