Mandatory Vaccinations

     Elst Borst explains that the invention of the vaccine is like that of the seatbelt: both are critical in ensuring one’s safety. The issue of increasing legal requirements for vaccination is one that sparks controversy; to realistically look at this issue, one must consider the dangers and risks associated with vaccination, paired with the benefits they provide, all the while considering the case of individual freedom. However, in the case of vaccinations, the benefits they provide greatly outweigh any negatives.

     Vaccines not only prevent diseases person to person, but they also protect against biological warfare/terrorism and help ensure public health. Opponents often argue that mandating vaccines suspends basic, fundamental rights, such as in the case of Jacobsen v. Massachusetts”, concerning a local minister refusing the smallpox vaccine. However, in this case the court ruled that state governments have a “duty to protect citizens”, even if it comes to suspending “basic rights” when regarding public safety. This case set a precedent; vaccinations to ensure public health will take priority over an individual’s rights.

     This precedent is one that should continue in American policy, although it is not currently. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, States have expanded vaccination exemption laws, creating a passive attitude over the importance of vaccinations. In fact, twenty States have some type of “philosophical exemption law”, in which parents can claim an exemption on the basis of personal beliefs. The well-being of children is compromised due to lax requirements for immunization. Children, helpless participants in their parents’ beliefs, are being subjected to preventable illnesses, many of which have severe, even deadly consequences.

     Not only children, but citizens with poor health are left vulnerable when people choose not to vaccinate. New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof elaborates that vaccination cannot be a “private choice, but a “civic obligation”, since it affects the public as a whole. Vaccinations provide something called herd immunity, in which a vaccinated public can protect those with medical issues who cannot safely be vaccinated. Think of children with Leukemia, for instance; their weakened immune systems could not support vaccinations, yet diseases such as the measles can still infect, and quite possibly kill them. To prevent this, the population must be vaccinated in order to prevent diseases such as the measles from being spread. However, State exemptions are preventing full herd immunity.

     In order to mitigate the effects of vaccine exemptions, certain steps must be taken. First and foremost, the public needs to be informed about just how necessary vaccines are to public health and safety. The fears of many parents lie in faulty science, such as the supposed correlation between vaccines and autism, which has been proven false. The national government needs to eradicate philosophical exemptions in the States allowing them in order to maintain public safety. Religious exemptions should be eliminated as well, if only thinking of public health. However, religions are a serious matter to many citizens and if denying them their practices goes against their fundamental beliefs, then exemptions cannot be eliminated. In these cases, citizens should be well aware of the risks before opting for an exemption. Medical exemptions are, of course, necessary in the case of those who cannot handle vaccination. To protect these particularly “at risk” citizens, a crack down on exemptions can work to safeguard their health.

     Many citizens are simply misinformed on vaccinations and how they have saved America in the past. Although people should have a right to choose, the issue of maintaining public health and safety takes priority. Therefore, vaccine exemptions need to be managed by the national government and should only be given out under stricter requirements. Much like the seatbelt, vaccines can only protect us if we use them. And if citizens put others at risk by refusing to use them, then the government must mandate vaccines in order to protect our nation.