Argumentative Essay On Vaccines

Mandatory vaccinations have been hotly debated in the United States for over two centuries, making the argument almost as old as the country itself. As early as 1809, Massachusetts became the first state to mandate the world’s premiere vaccine. Authorities recognized the life-saving benefits of the smallpox vaccine. They chose to require inoculation to protect the community from further outbreaks. Public outrage ensued as some community members feared the new vaccine and believed they should be able to choose if they wished to receive it. The most vocal protestors formed anti-compulsory vaccination groups and were successful in getting laws overturned in many states. However, even the United States Supreme Court has upheld states’ rights to require immunization. (A) Vaccinations should be

​Over the past decade, the concern among parents regarding the safety and effectiveness of childhood vaccinations has become a concern in the United States and other countries around the world. A survey of physicians showed that 89% of the physicians who were surveyed reported at least one refusal of childhood vaccinations by parents each month (Gowda & Dempsey, 2013). Other researchers have noted that as many as 77% of parents have concerned about one or more of the childhood vaccinations that are recommended for children (McKee & Bohannon, 2016). However, organizations such as the World Health Organization (2017) note that not only are childhood vaccinations safe, the reduction in children receiving childhood vaccinations has brought back diseases such as measles that had been completely wiped out in the United States. It is clear that there are opposing viewpoints about childhood vaccinations that need to be understood and examined to determine which side has a better argument.

The most commonly cited reason why parents decide to not vaccinate their children is due to their belief that vaccines cause harm11. In a survey that looked at risk perception with vaccines, researches found that while 94% of individuals surveyed had vaccinated or plan on vaccinating their children, only 23% of participants had no concerns about the vaccines16. This reiterates the point that even though there are high rates of vaccination in the United States,

“You have to follow your own heart when it comes to medical decision-making,” stated author and mother Emily Matchar when voicing her opinion on childhood vaccines. When it comes to vaccine parents are given the privilege to exempt their child based on medical, religious, or philosophical values, varying by state. This has allowed many to deviate from the original meaning of these exemptions and manipulate them as they see fit. This has helped to fuel the anti-vaccine movement that pushes for parents to fully decide which vaccines their child will receive without government regulations. Since 1998, the movement has harassed the public health community. With the introduction of incomplete, faulty research that “proved” Autism Spectrum Disorder

Vaccination programs are among the most cost effective and widely used public health interventions and have helped to control the spread of epidemic diseases, including smallpox, measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, and polio.1 Each state has school vaccination laws which require children of appropriate age to be vaccinated for several communicable diseases. 2. Subject to exceptions, including individual medical,3 religious,4 and philosophical 5 objections, modern state school vaccination laws mandate that children be vaccinated prior to being allowed to attend public or private schools. Failure to vaccinate children can result in children being denied from attending school, civil fines and criminal penalties (although rarely employed)6 against their parents or guardians, and other measures(e.g., the closure of a school).Advocates argue that childhood vaccinations ensure a safe environment for children who attend public schools. Supporters of childhood vaccinations believe that vaccines help prevent the following illnesses: whooping cough, diphtheria, and rubella. People who support childhood vaccinations believe that people that are against vaccinations have misguided beliefs. People who oppose childhood vaccinations argue that children should not be vaccinated due to their ability to naturally heal themselves. Opponents also believe that childhood vaccinations cause various side effects like seizures or even death. People who oppose vaccinations conclude that research

For many years, there has been a controversy about whether or not vaccinations should be mandated for everyone. In the United States, many diseases such as polio, diphtheria, measles, and whooping cough used to be extremely common, until vaccinations came around and started preventing these diseases. The main point for vaccines is to prepare a person’s immune system for any possible attack of a disease that comes in the future; a person’s body will be prepared to fight off the disease with the vaccine (“Basics”). Vaccines have the ability to prevent many cases of these diseases in advanced, but there are people who think vaccines are unnatural and should not be required for their children. It is said that immunity in child vaccines are about 90%-100%, which is an increase over the past few years (“Childhood”). Although many Americans believe that vaccines are unsafe and cause autism in children, vaccinations for children should be mandatory because they can save a child’s life, create herd immunity in a community, and they have been proven safe/cost-effective.

Vaccines have always been a controversial topic, to whether they are required all the way down to what they are composed of. It has been an ongoing battle since the 1970s and continues to make headlines even in this year of 2015 with the measles outbreak from Disneyland. Even now, many still believe that vaccinations can cause autism and choose not to vaccinate their children for that reason or another. Vaccinations are critical and need to be required for children before entering public schools.

disease to occur with numerous antigens entering the body at once and that their child will not be able to properly metabolize and excrete the mercury from their body.

After reading about the many infectious diseases in our discussions; it has given me a clearer insight of many of the pros and cons.

Since this vaccine debate, “about 40 percent of American parents today has chosen to delay certain vaccines or outright refuse to allow their children’s physicians to vaccinate their children with one or more of the recommended or mandated vaccines” (Largent). As the rates of being vaccinated go down, it is putting not only that child in danger but also the whole community. Diseases that were once gone are on the rise.” A 2013 study published in the journal Pediatrics reports that California’s worst whooping-cough outbreak, which infected more than 9,000 people (Rothstein)”. Also “the CDC reports that from Jan. 1 to Feb. 28, 2014, 54 people in the U.S. have reported being infected with measles” (Sifferlin).

Despite vaccinations being credited for the control and elimination of several childhood diseases, there are still many critics who raise concerns about the necessity of vaccination. In a national study of parents performed in 2000, 19% indicated they had “concerns about vaccines” whereas in a subsequent survey performed in 2009 this number had risen to 50%. There has also been a rise in non-medical vaccine exemptions that has occurred over the last several years. In a 2010 national survey of physicians, 89% of respondents reported at least one vaccine refusal by a parent each month (Dempsey & Gowda, 2013). Opposers argue that making school vaccination mandatory is against their right to make personal medical decisions. They feel that the government has no place to force parents to vaccinate their children if the parents decide it is not in their child’s best interest. Many parents are disagreeable about the multiple vaccinations received at one time, which results in possible pain and discomfort for the child. Another argument against vaccination is the safety and efficacy of vaccines. Critics are concerned about the unknown risks vaccines pose to children. Some parents noted their child acquiring a “high fever” or beginning to “act different” after the administration of a vaccine. There is a belief that there is a connection between the measles vaccination and autism. Another theory is that the influenza

Vaccinations have been proven safe for consumer use time and time again, yet people are still wary or hesitant to have their children receive vaccinations. Often times, people who argue against vaccinations are undereducated or miseducated about the real advantages and dangers of vaccinations, and many times these concerns are due to widely spread misconceptions. However, these have been proven wrong by a plethora of reputable pharmaceutical companies. Proven by many , vaccinations prevent epidemics, save money for the nation, and protect the future.

“A vaccination is the administration of antigenic material to stimulate an individual immune system to develop adaptive immunity to a pathogen. “(wiki) A vaccination is also taking a small dose of a disease or sickness and injecting it into the human body. Do this causes the human body to fight against the disease and help the human body build immunity to the injected disease. The first vaccine ever developed was for small pox in the 18th century. In the 19th century there was five more vaccines created, in the 20th century there was 24 more vaccines created and in the 21st century there was seven new vaccines created. Today we have so many different vaccinations everyone can get for different diseases and children need vaccinations not only for their health but they need them before they can attend school. There is a few reasons why children need them. There are different ways to get vaccines that will not cost a lot of money.

Vaccines are the best defense we have against serious, preventable, and sometimes deadly contagious diseases. Vaccines are some of the safest medical products available, but like any other medical product, there may be risks. Vaccines are held to the highest standard of safety. The United States currently has the safest, most effective vaccine supply in history. The FDA demands that vaccines undergo a rigorous and extensive evaluation program to determine safety and effectiveness, as well as using animal studies and human clinical trials to test the side effects of the ingredients. If a vaccine does receive approval by FDA, it is continuously monitored for safety as it is distributed to the public. A large amount of over one billion doses of vaccines made worldwide each year are given to healthy babies, children, and adults. Which is why it is critical that vaccines be proven to be safe and effective because people are likely to not want to receive them if they cause healthy people to get sick. Vaccines help the body’s immune system prepare for future attacks from deadly diseases. Vaccines consist of killed and modified diseases, or microbes, that trick the body into thinking an infection has occurred. A vaccinated person’s immune system attacks the harmless vaccine and prepares for invasions against the kind of microbe the vaccine contained. In this way, the person becomes immunized against the microbe and if re-exposure to the infectious microbe occurs, the immune system

This source says that parents are hesitant to vaccinate their children because they don’t know what is in vaccines or think they are harmful to child development. This author has written for science magazines and has a Ph.D in psychology. The audience could be parents debating vaccinating their children or employees of child care/education centers who have to deal with the problem of vaccination. This source uses a variety of other source to support its argument and give evidence. It states that people aren’t against them purely because of the belief that some could cause developmental issues, but that some are just straight up unsafe. Many don’t like the unnecessary vaccines for non-epidemic diseases. Found on CQ researcher.