Americans have the right to make their own health care choices, including making their own decisions regarding vaccines and whatever purported disease or illness-prevention measures they wish to pursue or support.

The coronavirus pandemic and the aftermath of the health crisis have provided ample evidence of that.

Likewise, no one is issuing must-follow directives about vitamins and supplements, although there is plenty of advertising attempting to lure Americans with health problems or unwanted medical-related issues or physical conditions to try certain products that purportedly might benefit them.

“Ask your doctor” is a familiar recommendation, while many desperate people are willing to try almost anything that might be deemed helpful, even some products with very remote possibilities, even sometimes ignoring doctors’ knowledge-based advice and skepticism about what is being promoted.

More than anything else, though, it seems clear that vaccines have been under fire most in recent years, especially since the pandemic. And, that doesn’t seem likely to change anytime soon, especially since current U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has raised questions about a number of vaccines and acted on behalf of making it easier for parents to opt against having their children vaccinated.

However, perhaps now there might be some new movement in support of vaccines, based on some new evidence that has emerged and the publicity it has generated, probably most recently in the Wall Street Journal in a Dec. 9 “Your Health” column in the newspaper’s Personal Journal section.

Under the headline “The unexpected ways vaccines could boost your health,” columnist Sumathi Reddy wrote that “as doctors and vaccine deniers spar over the safety of vaccines, emerging evidence finds that some vaccines aren’t only good at preventing the disease or virus they target but also might have broader or even unrelated health benefits.”

Columnist Reddy reported that researchers are studying whether certain adult vaccines can be used for dementia prevention or for improving cancer survival rates.

“The shingles vaccine, for example,” she wrote, “might help reduce the risk of developing dementia later. The COVID-19 vaccine, when given to certain cancer patients, increased their survival rates, one recent study found.”

She added:

“An old tuberculosis vaccine — bacillus Calmette-Guerin, or BCG — is being studied to prevent Alzheimer’s disease. It has also been shown to decrease infant mortality in parts of the developing world where it is still widely used.”

According to Reddy, it is a concept known as trained immunity, which she said is “a form of innate immune memory whereby the body generates a more robust response to even unrelated exposures.”

Meanwhile, she pointed out, the concept known as adaptive immunity trains the immune system to recognize just a specific pathogen.

Adults who receive the shingles vaccine have a lower risk of developing dementia later, studies have found.

Still, researchers are being careful in what they are saying and how they are addressing the trained-immunity concept, noting that people who get vaccines might also have healthier behaviors that might contribute to the reduced risk being suggested.

What has emerged has to be considered interesting, nonetheless, and a matter of hope for those who need hope so desperately.

This is not suggesting that vaccine deniers change their opinion, at least not at this early stage of the possible findings related to trained immunity. Nevertheless, the deniers should watch for further developments and new evidence, just like others.

There is nothing wrong with wanting to know.