Why is everyone so extreme. At one of the spectrum you have people like Bill Maher and at the other end of the spectrum are people like on this site.

Because people like Maher mean less people in the community vaccinate. Less people vaccinating means more people dying. Look up whooping cough epidemic for example.

On the other hand I see robust healthy people getting yearly flu shots which probably makes them feel sick more often than if they actually came down with something.

Do you have any data to back up that `probably' ? In my own experience when I get flu I feel really sick for 2-3 weeks when I have the shot I get a sore arm and sometimes a bit of a headache and I don't get the flu.

You have companies that do genuine research with real concern for people, and then you have companies that fit Bill's conspiracy theory perfectly.

Sure there are genuine problems having this kind of research driven by the profit motive and, as you point out later, the pharmaceutical industry would be really happy to find a `miracle pill' we all need to take twice a day. These are good reasons to treat the industry with robust government regulation and a degree of personal scepticism but not good reason to retreat to the dark ages. I don't think it follows that there is a problem with vaccines.

I think Shermer would have a better case to win Bill over if he at concedes that not all vaccines have benefits that outweigh the risks.

Which vaccines would they be ?

Michael