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Why Vaccinations Should Be Mandatory

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To vaccinate or not to vaccinate
Roughly over the last sixteen years, many parents have chosen to not vaccinate their children, putting other children at risk. This has been a huge debate across our country for many years now. Vaccinations should be mandatory and children should be completely up to date with all vaccinations before being allowed to attend school.
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Michigan has one of the highest vaccine waiver rates in the country (Parker, 2014). This vaccine waiver allows parents to walk in to a school and sign a waiver saying that they do not believe in vaccinations or that it is just simply against the religion that they practice. Just as of January 1, 2015 Michigan has made it a little bit tougher to obtain this vaccination waiver. According to Parker (2014) Michigan parents will still be allowed to refuse the required vaccines for their children however, the parents will first have to be educated by a healthcare worker about all of the diseases that these vaccinations are designed to protect against, plus they must also sign another form stating that they are acknowledging they may be putting their own children as well as other children at risk for the said diseases.
The problem with these parents choosing not to vaccinate their children is not only are they putting their own children at risk but they are also putting other school age children at risk. Why do they have the right to do this? Any

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