Hamilton

Kate Hamilton

Mrs. Robertson

English 1010

2 January 2017

Vaccinations: Worth a Shot

Imagine yourself going in for your yearly checkup at your doctor’s office and hearing the

words everyone loathes to hear: “You will be needing a shot today.” Even though you hate it,

you lend your arm for the medical assistant to alcohol swab your arm and inject your muscle

with an inactive virus for your body to create antibodies to provide immunity. You have a sore

muscle for about two days and then you forget you even had the shot. Even though it may not

seem like it at the time, what you just did protected yourself, your children, co-workers, and the

general public from starting another outbreak of a disease that can so easily be wiped from our

society forever. Unfortunately, our neighbors, relatives, and people we see on the street everyday

choose not to vaccinate their children.

Vaccinations are required for school attendance once a child begins kindergarten,

however parents who are anti-vaccinations submit vaccination exemption forms to allow their

children to go anyway. However, what the parents just did is allowed their children to play and

interact with children that may have a virus or bacteria on them, causing them to become

susceptible to the everyday germs we experience on a daily basis and possibly endangering their

life. Even though these parents opt against it, there is a very reasonable solution that can provide

immunity for everyone and allow more diseases to be completely wiped out of our lives. That
 Hamilton

solution is mandatory immunity. Vaccinations should be mandated in society because they can

prevent diseases, outbreaks, and ensure public health and immunity.

Vaccinations should be required because they can cause herd immunity, immunity that

occurs when the majority of the population is immunized, thus reducing the chance of a severe

outbreak for those not vaccinated and protect future generations. In today’s society, we have

more of an individualistic mentality, causing us to look at only what benefits us and not others,

thus threatening the concept of herd immunity. However, it is a win-win situation either way. If

one gets immunized only to obtain immunity for themselves, it not only helps them, but their

community. Gary Finnegan, a journalist, said, “If you decide not to visit the dentist….you put

yourself at risk. The direct impact on other people’s health is pretty much zero. With vaccines,

the health of your community could be affected. You might catch-and spread-infectious diseases

at school, in the workplace, or in public places” (Finnegan 1). In 2015, there was an outbreak of

measles that started in Disneyland. It infected 94 non-vaccinated people and could’ve easily

spread to more if there were not people there already immune to measles. Even though some

thought that this was a problem with the vaccine not working, the root cause was the vaccine not

being used. Measels was eradicated, wiped out, in 2000, and if everyone who was in Disneyland

that day was immunized, there would’ve never been any measles cases to report and the

eradication could live on for our posterity. The Department of Health and Human Services

stated, “If we continue vaccinating now, and vaccinating completely, parents in the future may

be able to trust that some diseases of today will no longer be around to harm their children in the

future” (DHHS 1). Even though there are oppositions to immunizations, they should be

mandated to ensure public health and protect our posterity.

 Hamilton

Second, vaccinations should be mandated because they ensure the health of your children

and are very safe and effective. Before a vaccine is available to the public, extensive testing and

review is done by doctors, scientists, and engineers to make sure it is safe and reliable. The

Center for Disease Control said, “A vaccine is a safer substitute for a child’s first exposure to a

disease…through vaccination, children can develop immunity without suffering from the actual

diseases that vaccines prevent” (CDC 1). Even though there is muscle soreness after the shot, the

effects of having a disease are far worse than muscle fatigue. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, a neurosurgeon,

said, “Of course I vaccinated my children. Didn’t think twice. Not a big fan of the measles or

mumps or rubella-to name a few very preventable diseases” (Gupta 3). Vaccinations should be

mandatory because they are a reliable, safe product to save your child’s life.

Despite all of the positive data shared previously, non-vaccinators claim there are many

drawbacks to vaccinations, such as getting too many at one time, vaccinations causing seizures,

MMR vaccine causing inflammatory bowel disease, and the one that is very prevalent today, that

vaccines cause autism. However, evidence proves that all of these claims are inaccurate. The

American Academy of Pediatrics worked with the Center of Disease Control to test various

vaccinations and examine the side effects of each vaccine. (Healthy Children 1-23). In one study,

they tested a child that got all of their first year shots on time to see if they had

neuropsychological deficits. They found that “there was no benefit in delaying immunizations

during the first year of life and timely vaccinations during infancy had no adverse effects on long

term neuropsychological outcomes” (Healthy Children). In one test of the measles vaccine,

“overall researchers found no increased risk of febrile seizures in any of the study groups within

6 weeks of vaccination” (Healthy Children). During another trial of the MMR vaccine, they

found that “over a decade’s effort to detect all severe adverse events associated with MMR
 Hamilton

vaccine could find no data supporting the hypothesis that it would cause pervasive

developmental disorder or inflammatory bowel disease” (Healthy Children). And finally, during

4 tests of the measles and MMR vaccine, each time they found no link between the vaccinations

and autism. Another statement by Dr. Gupta says, “The anti-vaccination argument is often

snugly wrapped in the ‘I love my kids’ sentiment. To suggest that anyone who vaccinates their

kids doesn’t love them is a whole new level of lunacy. But here is the fact of the matter, for me.

It’s not just because I love my kids that I vaccinated them. It’s because I love your kids as well”

(Gupta 3). Dr. Gupta summed this up very well. Vaccinating your kids not only safely prevents

them from catching a horrible disease proven to cause no side effects, it prevents other

individuals to not catch it as well because it is eradicated. However, there are some people who

cannot or choose not to be vaccinate because of religious or physiological reasons. If only these

individuals who cannot be vaccinated because they respect a religion or have a compromised

immune system due to chemotherapy are not vaccinated, herd immunity will protect them from

catching deathly illnesses because majority of the population will be immune. If 90% of the

population is immune, those who cannot get vaccinated are protected, ensuring health for the

public. Vaccinations should be mandated because they ensure public health and safely eradicate

diseases to protect communities and families, especially those who cannot be vaccinated..

I recently posted a survey on Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram, allowing me to reach a

varied, unbiased audience. 72/80 responses stated that they believe that immunizations are

necessary for public health. Those 72 individuals are part of the strong herd immunity prevalent

today. In addition, 71/80 responses noted that they believe that immunizations should be

mandatory for school attendance, job applications, and travel visas. Because of these responses,

it has opened my eyes to how many people I associate with are immunized and how we are
 Hamilton

slowly eradicating diseases together so we can provide a safe, healthy future for our posterity.

Vaccinations should be mandated in society because it can prevent diseases, outbreaks, and

ensure public health and immunity.

In conclusion, vaccinations should be mandatory in society because it can prevent

diseases, outbreaks, and ensure public health and immunity. By having a majority of the

population immunized, herd immunity will make up for the difference and provide safe, healthy

living environment. In addition, they provide your children with safety and allow them to live a

healthy life without having to worry about catching a disease that once threatened civilizations.

Despite the skewed claims of the various effects of vaccines, none are still true following the

results of the extensive testing done on them. Vaccines may seem threatening when you look at

them with a tunnel vision point of view, but in the long run, they are worth a shot.
 Hamilton

Bibilography

CDC. “Vaccines & Immunizations.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, 18 Aug. 2017, www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vac-
gen/howvpd.htm.
DHHS. “Five Important Reasons to Vaccinate Your Child.” Vaccines.gov, U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services, 11 Oct. 2006, www.vaccines.gov/more_info/features/five-
important-reasons-to-vaccinate-your-child.html.
Finnegan, Gary. “Should vaccines be mandatory?” VaccinesToday, 24 Mar. 2017,
www.vaccinestoday.eu/stories/should-vaccines-be-mandatory/.
Gupta, Dr. Sanjay. “Dr. Sanjay Gupta: Benefits of vaccines are a matter of fact.” CNN, Cable
News Network, 10 Jan. 2017, www.cnn.com/2017/01/10/health/vaccines-sanjay-
gupta/index.html.
Healthy Children. “Vaccine Safety: Examine the Evidence.” HealthyChildren.org,
www.healthychildren.org/English/safety-prevention/immunizations/Pages/Vaccine-
Studies-Examine-the-Evidence.aspx.