Autry Clark

William Troxell

Mr. Gross

English 11 B (3)

3 April 2019

Why Vaccines Should Be Made Mandatory

Pertussis (whooping cough) had been nearly eliminated from Japan in 1974. The number

of cases had dropped to 393 and there were 0 deaths caused by the disease (What Would Happen

1). However, only half a decade later, there were 13,000 cases and 41 of those cases ended in

death (What Would Happen 1). The reason is simple; immunization had dropped. Between 1974

and 1979, the number of children getting vaccinated dropped from 80% to 10% (What Would

Happen 1). The effect is clear; herd immunization (an immunized population protecting a

vulnerable population from disease) is being chipped away in modern society, and similar cases

are cropping up everywhere. Vaccinations must be made mandatory by law. People who choose

not to vaccinate endanger the public. Measles and other preventable diseases are making a rise

due to a lack of herd immunization. The cause is people who do not believe in vaccination.

Because of the importance of immunization, it must be made be mandatory by law to vaccinate.

Those who choose not to vaccinate harm people other than themselves. When children

are too young to be vaccinated, they rely on others in the community being immunized to

prevent the spread of the disease. However, when someone chooses not to vaccinate or chooses

for their children not to be vaccinated this decreases the effectiveness of herd immunity and can

cause outbreaks (Alltucker 1). A victim of this is Sara Blum’s 5 month old son. He contracted
measles during an outbreak caused by weakened herd immunity. While he did survive the

disease with no lasting complications, it was an entirely preventable case had the population

been properly protected through vaccination (Felton 1). A current lack of herd immunity has

been causing a rise in outbreaks in recent years.

Recent outbreaks of preventable diseases have been caused by vaccination exemption. A

private school in North Carolina had 36 cases of chickenpox, a county in New Jersey has 18

cases of measles, and Rockland County has 87 cases of measles. This number of reported cases

like this has increased by 30% between 2016 to 2018 (Krans 1). From January 1st to May 3rd of

2019, there have been 764 cases of measles confirmed in 23 states (CDC 1). In Canada in the

year of 2013, immunization rates dropped below 84%. This is below Canada’s immunization

goal of 95% by 9% (Schultz 1). Lesser immunization leaves populations vulnerable to outbreaks

of measles and other preventable diseases.

The biggest reason for a decrease in immunization and herd immunity is a lack of reliable

information. Misinformation about vaccinations spreads rumours and causes scares about the

safety and benefits of vaccine (Larson 1). This weakened trust in vaccines causes people to

exempt from vaccination for religious or philosophical reasons. According to Heidi J. Larson,

who leads the Vaccine Confidence Project, the threat level of misinformation can be separated

into four levels: bad science, vaccine debates used as a financial opportunity, vaccines debates

used as a political opportunity, and ‘super spreaders’ (Larson 1). The first category includes false

information founded by those with medical degrees, including Andrew Wakefield. The second

category are those who use the vaccine controversy in order to sell books or similar products.

The third category are those who use the vaccine controversy in order to polarize the population
as a political opportunity. The final, and most dangerous category, is the viral spread of

misinformation through social media and the wide web (Larson 1). While Facebook, Twitter, and

Instagram are attempting to crack down on the spread of misinformation, misinformation on

vaccine is still commonly shared across social media.

A large claim made against vaccinations is that vaccinations cause autism or have

adverse side effects. Andrew Wakefield conducted a study in 1998 that connected the MMR

vaccine to autism (Vaccines and Autism 1). However, the studies were proven to be false in 2011

and 2013 when research and reports showed that vaccines are safe with very few exceptions

(CDC 1). While vaccines do can have side effects, such as shivering, a high temperature, or

seizure, the slim chance of these severe reactions hardly outweigh the benefit of immunization.

In 1912 and the following decade, 6,000 people died from measles related causes each year

(CDC 1). Due to immunization to the disease, measles was nearly eliminated from the planet.

Vaccinations have eliminated a very common and deadly disease while the chance of the measles

vaccine causing severe reactions is 1 in 1 million (CDC 1). It is clear the colossal benefit of

vaccination outweighs the nearly non-existent risk of vaccinations.

The only way to an unprotected populace endangering vulnerable people is to make

vaccines mandatory. If people cannot choose to exempt from a vaccine, there is no chance they

could contract the disease and spread it those who are not immunized. This protects vulnerable

populations from contracting and spreading preventable diseases. The only acceptable reason for

a vaccine exemption should be exemption for medical reasons where the receiver would be in

risk from vaccination.

 In order to prevent diseases like measles from making a rise, immunization rates must be

brought up to safe levels. Due to exemptions, the overall immunized population in the US has

decreased. Because of this, preventable diseases like measles are able to spread through the

non-protected population. If vaccinations were made mandatory then immunization rates would

be guaranteed to rise back up to safe levels and the presence of preventable diseases would cease

to grow.

While mandatory vaccines will help to solve the consequences of exempting vaccines, it

will not get rid of the stigma surrounding vaccines that caused people to exempt in the first place.

In order to control the misinformation that causes anxiety about the safety of vaccines,

misinformation should be readily debunked with reliable, public studies and a greater effort to

provide reliable information about vaccines should be made.

Vaccines must be made mandatory in order to prevent vaccine exemptions from harming

vulnerable people and to stop the rise of preventable diseases and reliable information must be

made readily available to stifle the stigma and anxiety surrounding the potential risks of

vaccinations. The prevalence of preventable diseases should never be allowed to become what it

was before the development of vaccines and immunization is absolutely necessary in keeping

these diseases under check.

 Works Cited

Alltucker, Ken. “A Quarter of All Kindergartners in This County in Washington Aren't Immunized.

Now There's a Measles Crisis.” ​USA Today​, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 12

Feb. 2019,

www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2019/02/11/measles-spread-anti-vaccination-comm

unities-new-york-clar-county-washington/2812667002/.

Children's Hospital. “Vaccines and Autism.” ​Children's Hospital of Philadelphia,​ The Children's

Hospital of Philadelphia, 5 Nov. 2014,

www.chop.edu/centers-programs/vaccine-education-center/vaccines-and-other-conditions

/vaccines-autism.

CDC. "What if you Don’t Vaccinate Your Child?" Immunize.org. 17 Apr. 2019

<​http://www.immunize.org/catg.d/p4017.pdf​>.

Felton, James. “Mom Slams Anti-Vaxxers After Her 5-Month-Old Baby Gets Measles During

Outbreak” Iflscience.com. 2 May. 2018.

<​https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/mom-slams-antivaxxers-after-her-5mont

hold-baby-gets-measles-during-outbreak/​>.

Krans, Brian. "Vaccinations: Health Effects on Children Without Them." Healthline. Dec. 2018.

Healthline Media. 17 Apr.

2019<​https://www.healthline.com/health-news/this-is-what-happens-when-children-dont-g

et-vaccinated​>.

Larson, Heidi J. “The Biggest Pandemic Risk? Viral Misinformation.” Nature, vol. 562, no. 7727,

2018, pp. 309–309., doi:10.1038/d41586-018-07034-4.

Schultz, Sarah. "The Choice Not To Vaccinate Doesn't Only Affect You!" VaccinesToday. 10

Apr. 2017. 17 Apr. 2019

 <​https://www.vaccinestoday.eu/stories/the-choice-not-to-vaccinate-doesnt-only-affect-you/

>.

“Vaccines: Vac-Gen/What Would Happen If We Stopped Vaccinations.” ​Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention​, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,

www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vac-gen/whatifstop.htm.