Vaccinations Should Be Mandatory

Adults and parents across America want to do whatever is best for maintaining good health. With good health comes the considering whether to be vaccinated or not. Proponents of vaccines, advocate that vaccines should be a mandatory part of healthcare regimes. Research shows that vaccines can save lives and are safe to be distributed into human lives. By becoming vaccinated, it reaps benefits on the economy as well as helping protect future generations from diseases that vaccines have helped eradicate. However, there are also indications that vaccines should not be mandatory, and that the government should not intervene in personal health care or religious beliefs for diseases that have essentially disappeared. Opponents of immunization say

It is crucial for nations to maintain disease immunity in order to protect future generations and those who cannot be vaccinated due to medical or religious reasons. “Children and adults who cannot be vaccinated due to age, poor health (who are immune-compromised or undergoing chemotherapy, for example), or other reasons rely on herd immunity to prevent contraction of vaccine-preventable diseases” (qtd. in ProCon.org “Should Any Vaccines Be Required for Children?”). The people who fall under these categories rely on the rest of the population to keep them from contracting diseases that could be harmful to their health. An example of the effects of non-vaccination occurred in 2008 when a young boy from Switzerland, unknowingly infected with measles, caused an outbreak to sweep across Disneyland, California. According to AAP News & Journals Gateway, “the importation resulted in 839 exposed persons, 11 additional cases (all in unvaccinated children), and the hospitalization of an infant too young to be vaccinated” (Sugerman et al, 2010). Vaccines do not eradicate diseases, so the risks of exposure are still there if members of society are not vaccinated. If patients choose to be vaccinated, vaccines can save time and money for families. It is less expensive to receive vaccinations than it is for children to be sick, acquire medical bills, and require time off of work to care for the child. “For example, children under five with the flu are contagious for about eight days, and, according to a 2012 CDC study, cost their parents an average of 11 to 73 hours of wages (about $222 to $1,456) and $300 to $4,000 in medical expenses” (qtd. in ProCon.org “Should Any Vaccines Be Required for Children?”). The Disneyland outbreak, according to AAP News & Journals Gateway, resulted in 11 unvaccinated children catching measles and a $123,512 cost for emergency vaccination and outbreak care (Sugerman et al,