Vaccinations Should Be Required

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Recommended: The importance of vaccines for children

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 all have an important stance in this issue. Parents argue that it is they who should have the ultimate decision-making right on whether or not to vaccinate their children. Nurses and healthcare officials oppose that view on the grounds that by not fully vaccinating children, it exposes all children to contracting the vaccine-preventable diseases. The policy surrounding childhood vaccination is unreliable and should be modified.
Currently according to ProCon.org, “All 50 states require vaccinations for all children entering public schools even though no mandatory federal vaccination laws exist. All fifty states issue medical exemptions, forty-eight states permit religious exemptions and twenty states allow an exemption for physiological reasons” (“Vaccines” par. 4). Today in the United States, all states require children be vaccinated for certain diseases before school entry. A variety of exemptions are allowed, depending on state and local policies. In states medical, religious, and often philosoph...

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...althcare Executive Jan. 2014: 35+. General OneFile. Web. 1 Apr. 2014.
"Exemptions from School Immunization Requirements." Healthy States. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Apr. bbbbbb2014. http://www.healthystates.csg.org/NR/rdonlyres/7B29EF52-6408-4D67-904D-bbbbbbCFBE28AF35CA/0/ExemptionsLPB.pdfbbbb
Johnson, Teddi Dineley. "Protect your child's health with regular vaccinations. “Health & vvvvvWellness Resource Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Mar 2014.
Smith, Markette. "Fear of vaccines significant among U.S. parents." Pediatric News Mar. 2010: bbbhbb8. Health Reference Center Academic. Web. 31 Mar. 2014.
“Vaccination Exemptions." History of Vaccines RSS. N.p., 24 Jan. 2014. Web. 17 Apr. 2014. bbbbbhhttp://www.historyofvaccines.org/content/articles/vaccination-exemptions
"Vaccines ProCon.org." ProConorg Headlines. N.p., 18 Nov. 2013. Web. 27 Mar. 2014. bbbbbbhttp://vaccines.procon.org/

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