Arguments About The Importance of Making Vaccinations Mandatory

Are you willing to neglect the wellbeing of your child and potentially expose them to harmful, deadly and even life-threatening diseases? If so, you have made the right choice by not vaccinating our child. A vaccine is a form of preventative medicine that stimulates immunity to effectively fight, prevent, and completely eradicate infectious diseases. Many parents are not vaccinating their children for multiple reasons. However, immunizations should become mandatory in order to prolong the existence of the human race and avoid the potential death of millions. 

I will begin my argumentative essay by eliminating the big elephant in this argument – autism. Elephant in the room, argument doesn’t make sense. In 1995, British researchers published a study which claimed that the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine was linked to Autism. Since the claim, vaccination rates have dropped significantly and have not returned as it has induced fear, panic and concern in parents. However, The Australian Department of Health and a plethora of qualified scientist have proven the claims false. Childhood vaccines have been proven to be 90- 99% effective in stopping diseases. Although Parents may argue that vaccinations contain harmful ingredients such as thimerosal, formaldehyde, and aluminum, they fail to recognize that ingredients are provided to the child through vaccinations in small harmless doses. Children are exposed to larger quantities of ingredients such as aluminum in breast milk. Moreover, the FDA requires up to 10 or more years of testing before it is deemed safe. Therefore, as a parent, you should not be concerned by unreliable articles or the ingredients in vaccinations as they are tested for safety.

Vaccinations possess an array of benefits from protecting your child from deadly diseases such as tetanus, polio, rubella, diphtheria to eliminating dangerous diseases and keeping others safe from the disease. Viruses such as smallpox, influenza and dengue rapidly spread throughout the population. Scientists have stated, 'every 30 to 40 years an aggressive flu virus emerges, which has changed enough that people’s natural defenses are completely unprepared'. To avert such occurrences children should be obligated to have mandatory immunizations.

As a society, we don’t condone behaviour which place others at risk of injury and death. There are laws that prohibit drink driving, guns, speeding etc. and there are no exemptions for those who break these laws. Therefore, by declining to not vaccinate for exempts other than medical conditions should be unlawful because it is unfair and dangerous to those who are unable to vaccinate. Those who remain unvaccinated pose a risk to other children, older adults and those with disabilities and medical conditions. A large percentile of the population must be vaccinated in order to become immune to a disease and protect the minority that are unable to, which is also known as herd immunity. Therefore, by vaccinating yourself and your children you are executing your civil duty to protect those most at risk.

If everyone is vaccinated, future generations would be protected from the exposure of the same diseases faced in today’s world. The utilization of vaccines has reduced and even eliminated many infectious diseases that disabled and killed people. To understand this, smallpox was described by the world health organization as the “world’s most devastating disease known to humanity” which resulted as the number one killer of children.

With the creation of the smallpox vaccine, it was officially declared globally eradicated in 1980. Therefore, your child does not need to receive this shot as smallpox does not exist. Similarly vaccinating children against rubella reduces the risk of pregnant women passing it to their fetus and birth defects associated with the virus no longer exist in Australia. From these statistics, it is deduced that through containment and elimination, eradication of diseases are possible through the administration of vaccines. Children are the future; therefore, mandatory immunization will protect human life and strengthen the force for the future. If we continue vaccination now, parents in the future will be able to trust that some infectious disease of today will no longer be around to harm their children. Therefore, if your children are vaccinated it could eradicate diseases of today and protect future generations.

Vaccines have become a victim of their own success. Diseases induced fear in humans and sparked their requirement however due to false studies and parental concerns the rate of vaccinations has declined. Vaccinating your child will protect and eliminate threatening diseases. The choice to not vaccinate your children will jeopardize the risk of disease outbreaks, pandemic and epidemics. Opting out from immunization doesn't only risk your child from contracting dangerous diseases it also hurts everyone around you. Herd immunity is only successful when a large percentile of the population is inoculated. Vaccinating child will strengthen the force for the future. So will you protect your children and carry out your civic duty?