According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 70% of all children aged 19-35 months receive all of the major seven vaccines (National Center for Health Statistics). That leaves 30% that are unaccounted for and can cause a lot of damage to our society. Vaccines are a fundamental necessity in today’s world; they have made an impact on the way we view and fight many types of diseases. Nonetheless, there is a lot of debate between parents on whether vaccinations are the right choice for their children. There are many reasons why people would choose not to vaccinate their children. For example, their religious beliefs, their morals, and the belief that they are unsafe are some common ones. However, vaccines have been scientifically proven to be safe and effective, to save the parents money by not having to take care of a sick child, and they protect the masses not just the individual.
Diseases are not uncommon and have been around for years leading to the knowledge that, “infectious disease is among the top killers of young people worldwide and is responsible for nearly one-third of all deaths in children between one month and five years of age” (McHugh 596). With odds like these, it is more than likely a child could come down with a disease. It is a parent’s job and sole duty to make sure that their child is safe and out of harm’s way. Vaccines can protect a child in a way that parents simply cannot. A parent’s worst fear is to have their child be in pain and yet 180 children died in 2017 because of the flu. Therefore, a parent should give their child the immunization to avoid the physical suffering of the child and the emotional suffering of the parent.
A reason people are not vaccinated is the belief vaccinations can have adverse effects. People believe vaccines are unsafe because they have the possibility of causing a severe allergic reaction. Although some people receive minor reactions including a small bump, redness, or soreness after receiving a vaccine, the possibility of having a severe negative reaction is very slim. All vaccines are monitored for safety continuously, and most medications have possible side effects just like vaccinations (For Parents: Vaccines for Your Children). Why give a child Advil, whose side effects may include upset stomach, mild heartburn, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, and dizziness, but not vaccinate them, when their side effects are much milder? Plus, a minor reaction is much more effective to handle, rather than being sick for a week or more. To make vaccines even more safe, The National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act was passed in 1986. This requires any vaccines that have caused an adverse reaction to children to be reported by health care providers within 30 days of the reaction (Miller and Reynolds 166). The report would then be sent to all healthcare centers and the batch of vaccines would be investigated for any other signs of an adverse reaction. This allows healthcare professionals to completely evaluate the safety of administered vaccines and take steps to prevent further negative reactions in children.
Another belief is that vaccines cause Autism. “Autism Spectrum Disorders are a group of developmental disabilities characterized by impairments in social interaction and communication and repetitive behaviors” (Miller and Reynolds 166). The prominent vaccine that gets the most attention with this belief, is the Measles, Mumps and Rubella vaccine (MMR). The attention started in the late 1900s with evidence that showed that some vaccines were linked to Autism. The evidence displayed that Autism rates increased when vaccination rates increased. Besides the correlation, there was not a sufficient amount of research done in the 1980s-90s that concluded that vaccinations were linked to Autism. The researchers created a panic before the technology was advanced enough to actually research it (Conis 303), when in reality, there is no proven research that shows what causes Autism. Many scientists believe it is a genetic gene mutation, but there are multiple unproven theories that range from environmental climate to birth complications that are being discussed as well (Makin 56). Many different places did experiments to evaluate whether Autism is connected to vaccinations. The Center for Disease Control, the National Institute of Health, The American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Medical Research Counsel all conducted their own research and concluded that there was no correlation. This led to many other studies, for example, it was presumed that if the MMR vaccine increased then so should Autism cases if they were correlated. It was proven false because “the Autism rate had increased by 373% between 1980 and 1994 but the immunization rate had been fairly constant during that period, increasing by only 14%” (Dales, Hammer, and Smith 1185). With so many studies that all yielded the same result it was more than apparent that Autism is not a cause of vaccines.
People also believed vaccines were unsafe because they contain mercury. This comes from vaccines that contained Thimerosal, a preservative that contains 50% mercury. Mercury is harmful if entered into the body in large quantities. Too much mercury can accumulate in the brain and damage neurological thinking and cause lifelong damage. Once the studies came out, companies that created vaccines found new ways to avoid the use of Thimerosal in vaccinations. As of 2001, all vaccines are now created safely without Thimerosal (Miller and Reynolds 167). This shows how all companies want vaccines to be safe. From the concerns of the people and the scientists, vaccines are now even safer than they were before.
Another reason people believe that vaccines are bad for them is because of media outlets and false representation. A documentary called “Vaxxed” premiered in 2004 and had a huge following even though they produced incorrect information about vaccines (Conis 298). According to the Immunisation Advisory Centre, the documentary shows transcripts between doctors that were edited to show vaccines in a negative light and spread incorrect data. It also shows brain scans of children aged 6-12 months, with the MMR vaccine, that showed differences in the child’s brain before and after getting the shot. However, children cannot get the MMR vaccine that young (Conis 298). Companies that spread misinformation can make a group of people show incorrect bias towards vaccines. The company intended on making vaccines look unsafe, while conditioning society to receive a negative feeling associated with them. Through this, even though the film was taken down, the company succeeded in their purpose.
Another example is that researchers are not always honest. Recently, an article called The Lancet was retracted after twelve years because of its research being dishonest, incorrect, and biased. Ten out of the thirteen researchers retracted their statements because their conclusions did not come to the finding that MMR lead to Autism. It was found that they were being paid-off for their research by lawyers of anti-vaccination clients (Sathyanarayana 1). Andrew Wakefield was found to be a leading researcher of the article. He still refuses to admit the article was incorrect even after a journalist, Brian Deer, had proven that each of the twelve cases studied by Wakefield and the rest of his team were untruthful. In each case, there was altered data. Wakefield manipulated his data and turned it into what he needed for his article. He also had reports of being abusive to his patients and was investigated for fraud. It was discovered that “not one of the 12 cases reported in the 1998 Lancet paper was free of misrepresentation or undisclosed alteration, and that in no single case could the medical records be fully reconciled with the descriptions, diagnoses, or histories published in the journal” (Godlee, et al. 342). This fraudulent paper was out in the public for twelve years for people to read before it was forcibly retracted. For twelve years, anti-vaccination activists believed they were right because they had scientific proof to support their claim, starting the vaccination controversy. False information was used for the gain of the author, for popularity and for financial gain. This led parents to not vaccinate their children. This is crucial; because of Wakefield there was the potential for many people to become sick with preventable diseases.
However, there are people who believe that it is the best for their child to not be vaccinated. Some Muslims choose not to vaccinate because in some vaccines there is gelatine, an ingredient that comes from pigs, and some Christians chose not to because some vaccines contain foetal tissue (Michael 485). It was found that those who attend religious services frequently and are non-Catholic are more likely to not have their child vaccinated (Shelton 1127). This could be because people who attend religious services are very faithful, leading to the belief that God is the almighty and made humans perfect. Many religions believe that people should not put anything foreign in their bodies because it makes them “unclean” (Michael and Male 486). Vaccines are usually inactive forms of the virus inserted into the body, used to protect a person by allowing their body to have a chance to gain the antibodies to fight it (Oxford Dictionary). Vaccines insert pathogens that have been grown in a lab to introduce a person’s body to the disease that the body need protection from. The pathogens have been modified to make sure they will not cause sickness. Scientists use a very weak strain of the disease or an inactive strand (Nazarko 770). The body produces antigens to fight these diseases and to prepare for future infections, thus ridding the virus from the body.
Vaccines are even more useful because they, with enough time, can completely eliminate a disease. Smallpox, which had many epidemics that killed millions to billions in its time here on Earth, is an example of how a vaccination can cause a disease to be completely eradicated. Once someone discovered that people vaccinated with prevention to Cowpox were not getting Smallpox either, scientists created a plan that would make many countries push getting the vaccine. With everyone getting the vaccine, and less people getting and spreading it- the disease was completely extinct from the United States in 1970. Slowly the rest of the world stopped getting it and humans have been Smallpox free since 1980 (Meseda 1367). The United States stopped giving the vaccine in 1971 because the disease died out. This is just another reason why vaccines can protect the masses. Billions of people have died, and now no one suffers from it and no one hears of Smallpox anymore, as a result of vaccines.
Another disease that has been eradicated is Polio. Polio had a huge outbreak in the 1950s, paralyzing many children and killing even more. It was eliminated in the United states due to vaccines. Other countries still have to fight Polio, so the United States still offers the vaccine, but the last case in the United States was reported in 1979 (Global Health). On the contrary, not all vaccine-preventable diseases have completely been eliminated which is why the United States needs to push vaccines. It is shown here that extremely deadly and awful diseases can be eliminated to the point where humans can stop vaccinating everyone.
Receiving a vaccine, is a huge cost difference that parents will save if their child never comes down with a disease. The cost of a vaccine is generally 50-75 dollars and can cost practically nothing with insurance (Vaccines for Children Program). Meanwhile, if a child gets sick it would cost around, “$5,770 for a hospitalized case of influenza to $15,600 for a hospitalized case of invasive meningococcal disease” (Vaccines for Childrens Program). Through the costs of paying for the hospital bed, the medication, the care and travel expenses, these prices are not something people typically think about when they are weighing their options. Parents also have to acknowledge the fact that when their child is in the hospital, they most likely will not be able to work. Parents will have no income coming in to help balance the cost as well. Cost is very important because one big disease can hurt a family’s financial status hard. It hurts more if there is no insurance. Parents have to be aware that saving a couple dollars by not vaccinating at the correct ages early on, can put them in major debt later.
On top of extremely high expenses, being in a hospital can affect the child to have other deficits as well. It can put children behind their peers in their academics, as well as lead to underdeveloped social skills. If the child is bound to a hospital bed all day, they cannot interact with other children to learn age-appropriate play and social interaction. They have a “lower quality of life, and studies have found a negative impact [in a child’s] school and family life” (Park 685). With more severe diseases, the child may even need to relearn basic activities. This often leads to recreational therapy, as well as emotional therapy to help the child rebuild strength and cope with everything that could be happening at such a young age. Therapy is not inexpensive and on top of what they already are paying for medical bills, this is just another unnecessary outcome that could be avoided if the child was given the immunization.
If a child gets sick from a vaccine-preventable disease, it puts everyone’s lives at risk. Young babies who are not old enough to get vaccinated and elderly people, whose bodies’ immune systems are slowing down, cannot fight off aggressive infectious diseases. They spread quickly and quietly. All it takes is someone to move the disease around, and the world could end up with an epidemic. For example, in 2011, there was a child who was not vaccinated and came down with Measles after flying to Kenya to visit family. Upon returning, 3,000 people were exposed and 21 were diagnosed and treated for Measles in the US. The child was 30 months old (Gahr, P., et al.), an age where this child could have already have been vaccinated (For Parents: Vaccines for your Children). If the child was vaccinated, all of this could have been easily avoided and other families would not have to take care of a sick child. The child can expose the disease to many more people since they are most likely not vaccinated either. It ends up becoming a vicious cycle that introduces the disease to more and more people, as more decide not to vaccinate.
Another example is a measles outbreak in that led to people on vacation in Disney coming down with the disease. Disney released a statement in 2014 stating, “People ask whether it is safe to visit venues where measles has been identified and may be circulating. The answer is yes, considering you have been fully vaccinated” (Disney Measles Outbreak Gets Worse, Experts Warn). Tens of people came down with the disease and many more came down with symptoms. Six states and Mexico had people contract the disease (Disney Measles Outbreak Gets Worse, Experts Warn). Someone came to Disney knowing they felt sick and in turn infected many lives and families. Places like Disney are the breeding grounds for disease exchanges. People can visit from anywhere and can take any disease back with them. Alongside that, Disney gets thousands of visitors every day. Disney is a children’s paradise, with young children around, every child should be vaccinated to prevent spreading to the youngest children that cannot be vaccinated. Unfortunately, cases such as these are not rare occurrences. Preventable outbreaks like this continue throughout the United States and the world because parents chose not to vaccinate.
People are often concerned with the legality of making vaccines mandatory, “Every state in the USA has regulations or laws mandating vaccination for children before they enroll in public or private school. All states allow for medical exemptions; all but West Virginia and Mississippi allow religious exemptions; and 20 states allow philosophical exemptions” (Sullivan 1471). Many people want them to be more strictly enforced. This would require every child born to receive specified and regulated vaccines. However, how far can society go in regulating the vaccinations? People who are anti-mandatory vaccinations believe a parent should have the freedom to vaccinate their child if they wish but they should also have the right to not because of our amendment right to have free choices in the United States. People who believe everyone should have mandatory vaccinations from a young age believe that there is a limit on that amendment right. Where is the line between having a right to not vaccinate and starting to interfere with other people’s rights of being healthy?
This is not just a debate happening today. This is a debate that has been going on for years. In 1904, there was the debate of Henning Jacobson vs Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Jacobson was fined five dollars after not complying with the state mandatory vaccination of Smallpox. Jacobson took his case to court and fought against what he felt was an injustice considering,
“No state shall make or enforce any law abridging the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States, nor deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws; and that said section was opposed to the spirit of the Constitution” (Legal Information Institute).
Jacobson argued this in front of the court, was still found guilty, and was forced to pay the fine for not being vaccinated (Legal Information Institute). If the state mandates vaccinations, it could be argued that it is taking away a person’s right to choose whether or not to receive the vaccine. But, is it truly a bad thing for states to require them for an epidemic like Smallpox? Smallpox is a disease that had the potential to exterminate the entire human population without vaccines. It is only logical to require vaccines under circumstances such as these. When scientists create something that will help the world and not let anyone suffer, it is important to get everyone to use it. However, this law is vague and protects everyone under it, allowing for a wide variety of views and arguments on this topic.
There are seven major vaccines a child is recommended to get by the Center for Disease Control. With a rapidly growing population and more diseases, like Zika and Ebola, constantly emerging, society needs medicine that can protect the masses. Vaccines have many great benefits to them, their safety is continuously improving through consistency checks, and The National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act which require changes to vaccines as necessary. They save parents money by not having to handle hospital costs or not being able to work while taking care of their sick child. Finally, they protect the population so people can go out and enjoy their lives without having to worry about contracting severe infectious diseases. Anti-vaccination advocates leave the rest of the world at risk of preventable, life threatening diseases due to misinformation and ignorance about childhood vaccinations. Vaccines are crucial because they save lives and they are proven over and over again to be safe. As a society, vaccines need to be used. Children expect their mom and dad to be able to fix everything. But if they come down with a life-threatening disease, mom and dad cannot save them. But vaccines could have.
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