Citizens of the United States should be mandated to vaccinate both themselves and their children. Vaccination is a necessary action to prevent the spread of disease and allow society to progress unhindered by disease. It is also wrong allow humanity to be subjected to disease and suffering when much of the pain could be alleviated by inoculations. Qualified practitioners and scientists have deemed vaccines as safe with the protection societies’ general welfare in mind.
Vaccinations demonstrate the benefits of preventing suffering and death from infectious diseases. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Vaccinations were approved as a number one on the list of the Ten Great Public Health Achievements for the United States from 1900 to 1999. If a critical number of people within a community are vaccinated against a particular illness, the entire group becomes less likely to get the disease. This protection is called community, or herd, immunity. On the other hand, if too many people in a community do not get vaccinations, diseases can reappear. Herd immunity has played major role in reducing continual endemic transmission of a number of disease, as a result, benefiting the community and in addition to the individual. Herd immunity is one of the major reasons behind the mandatory vaccination. (1)
Although there are many misconceptions and views made about this treatment, vaccinations are one of the most crucial and essential factors of life, acknowledged by healthcare professionals as being by far the safest and most effective method in stopping the spread of many of the world’s life-threatening diseases. It ensures that the lives of millions are protected, also securing the health and safety of future generations.
A vaccine is a substance that is injected with a needle that provides immunity to one or several diseases and is generally offered to children of young age. Vaccines are considered to be the most efficient and sure way to prevent diseases especially within children. Edward Jenner was the first man to confirm the process of vaccinating was a method of preventing disease in 1798, however there are stories of the Chinese practicing similar techniques in the early 1700s. Children should be vaccinated if it is an option, vaccines can save a child’s life, and every year about 1.5 million children under the age 5 die from vaccine preventable diseases. Vaccine preventable diseases can also be extremely expensive, costing about $10 billion
“Vaccines have contributed to a significant reduction in many childhood infectious diseases, such as diphtheria, measles, and Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib). Some infectious diseases, such as polio and smallpox, have been eliminated in the United States due to effective vaccines. It is now rare for children in the United States to experience the devastating and often deadly effects of these diseases that were once common in the United States and other countries with high vaccination coverage” (U.S. Food & Drug).
"Vaccinations? Know the Risks and Failures." National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC). N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2013. .2013. .
A simple understanding of herd immunity, for example, will provide insight into the crucial contribution of of this method of disease prevention: “Herd immunity just means that enough people are vaccinated in the population so that the virus or the bacteria has a lot of trouble spreading from one person to the next because so many people are vaccinated” (Beyerstein 2). This quote from Dr. Paul Offit explains vaccination and how it functions within our society. These vaccines will use a safe, weakened version of the virus in order to prepare the immune system of an individual to fight off the disease in the future, but the vaccines we develop can also wage war against the very existence of the disease itself through this concept of herd immunity. Proof of this lies in this estimation concerning measles: “Thanks to the measles vaccine, an estimated 15.6 million deaths were prevented from 2000 to 2013” (YaleGlobal Online 2). Vaccination has clearly had vast amounts of positive influence on us over the years, from protecting millions of lives from measles and other diseases to defeating some diseases, such as polio, entirely. If these vaccines were mandatory, it would guarantee high levels of herd immunity and many more individuals would be far more safer from deadly
Imagine having rashes all over your body, a fever that starts to increase every minute, and the vomiting and abdominal pain that will not stop. These are the symptoms of smallpox, a disease that is now eradicated from the majority of the world. Diseases that can be prevented, such as smallpox, have killed millions of people annually. What if there was a simple solution to this problem? In fact, there is a solution: vaccines. A vaccine is a treatment which makes the body stronger against a particular infection. Vaccinations are considered one of the greatest medical achievements of modern civilization. However, people around the world are not fully vaccinated against diseases. If vaccines become mandatory, it is possible that all the negative consequences of certain diseases and diseases itself could be eliminated. Vaccines should become mandatory considering they can reduce the mortality rate associated with diseases, improve public health and decrease health care costs.
Most people think they know all they need to know about vaccinations. Not because it is something many people talk about, but the name “vaccine” leads to the definition. Vaccine is the resisting of an infection, and the killing of a disease before the body can produce it. Vaccines also have the job of boosting the immune system. A big issue the society faces is why to vaccinate children. Certain vaccines contain small weak germs that build antibodies. This type of germ is not harmful to the body. It is inside, remembering and fighting off diseases. The positive outcome of childhood vaccinations, according to national statistics and critical research studies, out way any negative side effects that might accrue.
It is believed that vaccinations save lives. “The ingredients in vaccines are safe in the amounts used” (Vaccines ProCon.org, 1) and adverse effects are not often seen. Vaccines provide herd immunity, which means that when the majority of the population is protected through vaccinations, that an outbreak of that disease process most likely will not occur. Vaccinations have in fact eradicated smallpox. The last known case was in 1977. Polio is almost obsolete because of vaccines. Medical agencies such as the Center for Disease Control, American Medical Association, the Food and Drug Administration, and the US Health and Human Services all support vaccinations. “All fifty states have laws that require children older than five years be vaccinated before entering state-licensed day care facilities or public schools” (The Law and Immunizations in the United States, 42). Some states even require college students to be vaccinated before attending their campuses. Vaccinations save families time and money by avoiding the contracting of diseases and in turn not missing work or school. Vaccine mandates are present in the workforce as well. For instance, United Regional Hospital requires every employee to receive a flu vaccine each year. Employees must follow the proper policies to be considered exempt for medical or