Mandatory Vaccination Essay

To the average individual, the word ‘vaccination’ means to prevent illness. Vaccinations have many advantages; they allow us to be less susceptible to a variety of illnesses and diseases. Many individuals believe that vaccinations should not be mandatory. However, the benefits from vaccinations greatly outweigh the risks from side effects. The judgments are factual and ethical and are supported by testing and research findings from multiple sources.

Imagine two children; one who has been completely vaccinated, and the other has never been vaccinated. Both children fall ill from the same virus, but the child who had been vaccinated fully recovers, while the child who was not passes away due to complications. That child’s life could have been saved if the child received the proper vaccinations. Ever since the invention of the Smallpox vaccine more than two centuries ago, there has been an abundance of controversy over the morality, ethics, effectiveness, and safety of vaccinations and immunizations. It has recently been argued whether laws should be introduced that render some or all vaccines mandatory for all children. Parents, health care specialists, nurses, teachers, and children

The key element in all these articles is if either this is a good decision or not. Each story gave new evidence about the topic. One article explained that you child might have to pumped with more than 40 doses of vaccines, while another said that there are only 10 required. Although what stops them from adding the next 30 to the list? Nothing. The state can actually add any other vaccines to this list when it’s past (Californians). The rhetorical devices that each side provides is persuasion. Each side has good evidence that explains why and why it’s not good. It helps the community. Children that can easily fall ill, will not get ill. It not only benefits kids, but also older people. Those that are old and have a weak immune system can live a longer life. It benefits our community, not just the person. But on the opposing side they show that some vaccines can make kids feel ill and can even result to death.

California’s recent decision to ban all religious and personal vaccine opt-outs raises the question, should vaccines be made mandatory in every state? All of the states allow medical exemptions, 48 allow religious opt-outs and 20 of those 48 states also allow personal belief exemptions (Haynes A.2). The new legislation will begin in the “2016 school year…and will affect more than 80,000 California students who annually claim personal belief exemptions” (Mason and Willon A.1). California now joins Mississippi and West Virginia as the only states that do not allow personal or religious vaccine opt-outs. According to Dr. Paul Offit, “it is a great day for California’s children. You’re living in a state that just got a littler

Conflicting reports about the safety of vaccinations is causing confusion and fear among parents. There has been tremendous hesitation in choosing whether or not to vaccinate children. The Federal Government has remedied this hesitation by creating a law. New legislation, effective at the start of the 2016 school year, requires parents to vaccinate their children in order to attend public or private schools. Parents that rely on school or day care systems to care for their child care while they work, are left without a choice. If these parents wanted to postponed or possibly not vaccinate, it is no longer of consequence, they are now obligated to take the leap. This law should be repealed until further research is done and more effective versions are created. Doctors need to understand why some children have adverse reactions and how to test for possible predispositions before vaccines become mandatory. Vaccinations should be an option for prevention, with parents in full awareness of the risks.

Parents should have the exclusive authority to make medical decisions on behalf of their minor children. Informed parents have the responsibility to refuse or discontinue treatments, even those that may be life-sustaining. This right extends to opting-out of vaccinations when in the best interests of the child. Although, these rights are being challenged. In addition, those parents choosing to opt-out of the vaccination program for their children are facing sanctions, ridicule as well as ostracized. A published article in, Pediatrics, confirm what other studies have suggested: “Anti-vaccine sentiment in the United States appears strongest among educated, wealthier white families. All 50 states have legislation requiring specified vaccines for students. Although exemptions vary from state to state, all school immunization laws grant exemptions to children for medical reasons.”

As employees and health care works of well known organizations, we have an ethical and moral obligation to make decisions and choices that reflect the best interest of the health of our patients. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (2010), mandatory programs should be enforced for health professionals justifying the need for employees to receive the influenza vaccine. The Joint Commission believes that an estimated 80% or higher of influenza immunization rates are crucial for providing the necessary immunity needed to protect and reduce influenza infections or health-related illnesses (The American Academy of Pediatrics, 2010). Voluntary programs consist of having the vaccine readily available for employees for no cost, providing staff with education on influenza prevention, and having

Richard Pan and Mr. Allen, both activists of vaccinations, introduced the bill 277 in California which mandates vaccines for all school children and eliminates exclusions that are not for medical reasons. In a statement on Dr. Richard Pans website (2015), he explains the epidemic of measles in 2015 that hospitalized several children was the reason behind the new law. Dr. Pan urged the audience that vaccinations will decrease preventable diseases and protect children and the public from such diseases. He also references children who are immunocompromised and cannot receive vaccinations are protected if healthy classmates receive their vaccines. Dr. Pan and Mr. Allen believes members in their community will live a healthy life due to the implementation of this new

According to the most recent statistics, 1 in every 20 kindergarten students have not had the proper vaccinations required of school age children (PBS). All 50 states prohibit students who lack proper vaccinations from attending public, and many private, schools (CDC). However, exemptions to this rule are made if the vaccination requirement conflicts with the religious beliefs (effective in all 50 states) or philosophical beliefs (effective in 19 states) of the parents of these children (CDC). The number of parents with “philosophical beliefs” against vaccinations has increased dramatically over the past century. These beliefs however are based solely upon the influences of rumors from the media and not from the scientific or medical community. Parents are afraid to vaccinate their children due to falsified beliefs that vaccinations cause other health problems, contain life-threatening ingredients, and are unnecessary in today’s society.

When it comes to certain topics there is always going to be controversy surrounding them; this is the case with the topic of whether or not children should be vaccinated. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) they recommend that children get vaccinated against up to 14 diseases within their first two years of life, and receiving booster shots as they get older. This idea leads to numerous debates on why children should be vaccinated or why parents should be able to opt out of vaccinating their children due to developmental concerns or religious beliefs. In my opinion, however, regardless of religious beliefs, vaccinations should be mandatory—unless there is a medical reason not to—because not only do vaccinations protect children from various diseases and can save their lives, but they also protect others around them and future generations.

Today, thanks to state laws that required all children to be immunized before attending school, there aren’t many unvaccinated adults. However, there are individuals who still believe that vaccinations are not effective and may cause adverse effects. Although public health history has demonstrated the immense benefit of vaccines, compulsory vaccination is still not free of controversy. Thus, some states allow medical, religious, and even philosophical exemptions from immunizations (“Disease Eradication”,

Over the years, there has been much controversy surrounding the subject of childhood vaccinations. With differing opinions, many are in favor about childhood vaccinations being required for children. Children vaccinations have been proven to be an effective means of preventing serious effects, including fatalities, from childhood illnesses yet there is still controversy over whether the risk of side effects from the vaccines outweighs the risk of contracting diseases. The belief behind mandatory vaccinations has been linked to people wanting vaccinations to be required for children because it will prevent the spread of childhood diseases, but there are still questions and concerns around why childhood vaccinations should be required. Questions surrounding this topic are: why should vaccines be required, are there any serious risks involved in vaccinating your child, and should children be turned away from school if they do not have vaccinations? There is also the question of should these vaccinations be mandatory or should this solely be a choice that the parents of the child should make? In order for us to be able to take our stance on the subject, we need to examine the answers to the question.

According to the Center’s of Disease Control and Prevention (2012), there are no federal requirements for childhood immunizations. While the CDC (2012) provides recommendations, each state sets their own rules and exemptions for schools and childcare attendance. On June 30, 2015, Governor Jerry Brown of California made history by eliminating the exemption from immunizations due to personal beliefs for children in public or private schools; however, medical exemptions initiated by a DO or MD will still be allowed (Royce, 2015; California Department of Public Health, 2015a). In 2013-2014, there were nearly 17000 personal belief vaccination exemptions in California (Almasy, 2015). Throughout the history of vaccinations very strong opinions for or against immunizations have existed,

Over time a paradigm shift as occurred in the way people think about vaccinations in relation to the differences by race, poverty status and type of vaccines. When it comes to vaccination, there are a lot of unanswered questions and misconceptions. “Present day fears focus on metaphysical debates between vaccines, autism and…preventability of diseases for which vaccines has been developed, some parents have grown more fearful of the vaccines than the disease it was developed to protect against” (Matus, 2015). Parents should have the right to opt out of having their children vaccinated and still send their children to public school. However parents must understand there are consequences of their decision, such as putting healthy children at

For many of years, parents have been dealing with the idea of having their child vaccinated or choosing not to vaccinate them at all. Some parents would argue about the different viewpoints of the vaccinations given to children. Some parents