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The Pros And Cons Of Mandatory Vaccinations

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The parental instinct of protecting one's children plays a role with the increasing trend of vaccine refusal and vaccine delay. Vaccine hesitancy is significant concern as some parents are skeptical about the safety of vaccines, which can consequently lead to vaccine refusal driven by fear of harm. As with the majority of health innovations, there are risks and benefits associated. Similarly, the Public Health Agency of Canada (2013) states that vaccines are not 100% safe, however they are much more safe as compared to the life threatening diseases such as diphtheria. With respect to Wakefield's autism study (1998), a limitation to his study was that the sample size used was very small with only 12 children (as cited in Smith, 2013). The …show more content…

In the same manner, it is unethical to allow others to suffer from serious illnesses that are life threatening because parents and/or guardians refuse to vaccinate children with modern medicine where these prophylactic regimens are available, encouraged to receive, and effective to its intended purpose of disease prevention. Mandatory vaccinations takes on a paternalistic and utilitarian approach, as the federal and provincial government of Canada would create a public policy for the best interests of health, and creating the best outcome. In the case of mandatory childhood vaccinations, ethical dilemmas arise when there is infringement on autonomy. However Feinberg (1984) stated that it is not feasible for the government to ask all individuals who are affected by the policy (as cited in Wilson, 2011). Childhood vaccination ties into the concept of beneficence for individual, community, and population health in order to eliminate vaccine-preventable diseases that are still prevalent in society. Salmon and Siegal (2001) suggested in order to balance individual autonomy and public beneficence regarding vaccinations, is to possibly allow for non-medical exemptions such as religious reasons with the agreement of counseling on the consequences of vaccination refusal (as cited in Omer et al., 2009). Mandatory childhood vaccinations promote the strengthening of community actions to eradicate vaccine-preventable diseases by working collaboratively in order to break the vicious cycles. It also relates to the Ottawa Charter principles of building a healthy public policy in order to sustain the decrease of vaccine-preventable diseases and collective health and vaccine-preventable

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Requiring vaccinations is a highly debatable topic in the United States today. An article by Ronald Bayer, “The continuing tensions between individual rights and public health,” is one of the most reliable sources in the case study. The author has a PhD from the University of Chicago and focuses his research on issues of social justice and ethical matters. Bayer has also previously been a consultant to the World Health Organization on ethical issues related to public health. This makes him very knowledgeable about the topic and a highly credible source.

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In the first article I read listed the vaccine laws for all fifty states, and the pros and cons of making it mandatory for every to get certain vaccines. Some of the pros where saving parents money in the long run if the child contracts an illness there is a vaccine for, they protect unborn children is a mother has gotten these vaccines, and they can save children’s lives. Come of the cons are there are ingredients that are morally wrong in some cultures, the Sid effects of these vaccines can have serious of fatal side effects, and some vaccines have harmful ingredients. There is a lot of concern among parents and schools because if student are going to school with another student who is not vaccinated there can be an outbreak of a certain

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On one hand, there is the dilemma of the governing authorities of whether or not to obligate parents to vaccinate their children by law or to allow them to choose to vaccinate their children or not (Ota, Idoko, Ogundare, & Afolabi 2013). This violates the ethical principal of autonomy while perhaps upholding the principles of non-malfeasance and beneficence. On the other hand, we have the parents or guardians of the children who may see the risks of the vaccine (whether real or imagined) as greater than the benefits of being immunized (Ota, Idoko, Ogundare, & Afolabi

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Lastly, how should the pediatrician address the parents who refused to vaccinate their child? These questions have been set to ensure health care professionals perform their medical duty required of them along with ensuring no harm is placed on the child. The primary focus should always be the welfare of the child. Compulsory immunization laws in the United States “have been found constitutional even for cases in which the laws conflict with the religious beliefs of individuals.” What happens when choosing not to vaccinate can lead to others contracting deadly disease from those unimmunized?

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Laurel Wood, Alaska’s immunization program manager, says “It’s critical that we help parents understand that childhood vaccinations are the safest and most effective way to protect their children from preventable illnesses. ”(“Alaska’s childhood immunization rates decline”) It is evident that Alaska does not really enforce good use of vaccinations because they are so many reforms that include: strengthening connections with health care companies, survey parents to see why they do not want to immunize their children, increase the spread of education of immunizations, etc. Laurel Wood adds, “Parents should talk with their child’s health care provider for more information and to assure their children are up-to-date with the immunizations.” (“Alaska’s childhood immunization rates decline”)

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Before I started this course I had only put minimal thought as to what our rights were in choosing to be vaccinated or not. From what I gathered from being a child and knowing what my nephews are required to have, it was my belief was that vaccinations are a mandated requirement and there was no getting around it. If parents wanted their child to be enrolled in day care, play in little league or just to attend school, it was a requirement to have physicals and for children to be vaccinated. I don’t have any children of my own and because of that I rarely had put any thought as to the number of vaccinations a child must have before the age of four until they reach adulthood. Though not having children does negate my sympathies towards parents’ concerns

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Vaccination is a key factor in keeping communities safe from harmful diseases, especially those that can spread easily. However, pediatric immunization policy can be debated from an ethical perspective because it concerns the role of the government and families in maintaining the health of children. I will argue that the immunization requirements with exemptions for school entrance in Washington state are ethically required because they balance the role of the government in public health and personal autonomy in the most minimally intrusive way possible. Hendrix points out that pediatric vaccination, or the policies surrounding vaccination requirements for children, can “span several public health domains, including those of policymakers,

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With most scientists and doctors, as well as a majority of the population believing that vaccinations are safe and effective, the few outliers have still managed to gain a large enough following to become noticed. The conflicting arguments over the ethicality of vaccine requirements, and vaccines in general, have sparked national interest. This interest has been held due to continuing issues, such as outbreaks of highly contagious childhood diseases. With these outbreaks possibly threatening those too young to be vaccinated, or who cannot be vaccinated for medical circumstances, many people believe vaccines should be required to protect public safety. Others believe that the possible negative side effects of vaccines greatly outweigh the positive ones, and want to be able to, as well as have the right to, choose not to vaccinate their child.

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Imagine the world described in fiction novels, disease haunts the world and people live in fear, not knowing whether they will survive another day. Measles, a disease most thought eradicated by its powerful immunization, still causes 16 deaths every hour. Though nearly 84% of the United States has been vaccinated against this, a recent outbreak has caused an eruption of opinions on the topic. Though many may argue that a child’s medical related decisions should be made by the child’s parent or guardian. In actuality, those who are not vaccinated for any contagious disease, pose a threat to the general health of the citizens of United States, as well as bringing back previously eradicated diseases.

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An article posted by the United States Center for Disease Prevention and Control (2016) highlights that one of the dangers of not vaccinating a child is the predisposition to vaccine-preventable diseases. Also, in the United States, school age children are required to receive periodic shots before enrolment. One could therefore conclude that, to a large extent, pro-vaccine governments do a lot in enlightening the citizens about the risks of refusing vaccines. As a result, the rejection of vaccines may not simply be due to ignorance of the vaccines or the consequences of the refusal, but to other

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Required Immunity Mandatory vaccinations for children in public schools have been the center of much debate since laws were first developed to regulate immunization. Fears from parents about side effects and adverse reactions have steered many away from wanting to vaccinate their children despite the numerous infectious diseases they prevent. These debates have gotten in the way of progression in schools for preventing the spread of disease. To me, the risks of not vaccinating children are far greater than the risks of adverse reactions.

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I would have to side with the requirement that vaccinations should be mandatory because it is not just the health of a single individual but the health of the entire human civilization. As a Christian, I believe that vaccinations help our health. They are something that God has given us. We should use them to our best knowledge to help our body. Although, I see the reasoning behind not requiring vaccinations.

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Although all public schools require immunizations, there are still children in the schools whose religion exempts the use of vaccinations. The goal of this paper is

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Modern medicine provides people with the ability to protect themselves from the world’s most fatal diseases. Merely a century ago, it was not uncommon for a child to die as a result of diseases such as polio, pertussis, and tuberculosis. Today, it is highly unlikely for a person to contract these diseases, let alone die from them. However, refusal of vaccinations has been increasing throughout the years due to the anti-vaccination movement. This movement declares mandatory vaccines unconstitutional and vaccinations overall as the cause of autism.

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