No Bricks Without Clay

...all pointed to something abnormal, though whether a fad or a plot, or whether the man were a philanthropist or a villain it was quite beyond my powers to determine. As to Holmes, I observed that he sat frequently for half an hour on end, with knitted brows and an abstracted air, but he swept the matter away with a wave of his hand when I mentioned it. "Data! data! data!" he cried impatiently. "I can't make bricks without clay."
--The Adventure of the Copper Beeches, Arthur Conan Doyle

Welcome to No Bricks Without Clay, a site that summarizes some of the evidence around vaccines (there is a lot so hopefully we will be adding more) and uses interactive features to explain some concepts. The site is not intended as medical advice; medical decisions should only be made in consultation with a qualified medical professional who understands your personal circumstances. Rather, as Holmes points out, the first step in solving problems and formulating ideas is to have a look at the data. This site organises only a small portion of the existing data on vaccines, but hopefully gives some insight into the scientific process and the breadth of research that has been done.

You can start with the explanation of risk and why it is often confusing, then work your way through the site using the "What's Next?" section at the bottom of each page. Alternatively, if you have a specific question, you might check the Frequently Asked Questions to guide you to a particular part of the site. Or just use the navigation buttons at the top.

There are many websites out there that claim to know things, but precious few seem to give you time to think about things. I aimed to make a site that people could interact with and engage with, where they could manipulate the information when they had questions about it, rather than just having it spat at them with finality. It is fair to say that experiments are not always conducted perfectly, that human beings have biases. But the responsible thing to do is to go through the information and truly try to evaluate where the problems and holes are. I have provided some starting suggestions for ways to look at the information, but these are certainly not the only ways and my hope is that people will really think about the information and what it might mean.

Let's find some clay. Let's make some bricks. Go make Holmes proud.