This essay will discuss the argumentative topic of vaccinations, specifically the argument of childhood vaccinations. There will be discussion on how to act in making a change to the system of vaccination administration, availability and requirement. Statistics will provide data that vaccinations should be made a requirement for children as the risks are much more minute when compared to the huge successes. Child safety is a commonly disused topic and so is vaccination requirement; these two topics go hand-in-hand. As it will be later explained, vaccination provide safety for children from a multitude of diseases. Although there are risks with vaccinating, there are risks with every action a person makes. One must weigh the possibilities and determine which will be more beneficial. In this case, is getting a disease and suffering from the illness more important than getting a little shot and being protected from the disease?

The focus of this essay will be on reforming the federal system for vaccination requirements. The goal is to have a federal law mandating the administration of vaccinations to all personnel feasibly cable of receiving them. The target will be placed in school administration and parents with young children as these are the areas where vaccinations are most relevant. The plan is to start education programs in convenient places such as schools and town halls for parents to attend and learn the facts about vaccinations. With the hope of sending children to kindergarten with all required vaccinations, the parents of children in preschool will be targeted for the distribution of pamphlets, newsletter, flyers, and any other source discussing, defining, and debating vaccinations. It is important to provide all information on this topic, and to remove as much bias as possible. With hopes of inspiring people to make a change, the issue on mandating vaccinations will have an effect on every individual. When people begin to make a difference, stand up for their beliefs, and start a movement, it's amazing how much can be achieved.

The time is now to bring up change to policies. This year, a new President of the United States will be elected and changes will most likely be made to the health care system. If attention can be brought to vaccination requirements and the people's voice can reach the White House, then a real change will happen. The purpose of this paper is to spark awareness and provide support for those people in the fight for mandating vaccinations for children.

It is important to understand the basic meaning of a vaccination before further discussion. A vaccination is a manufactured serum consisting of an "'imitation' infection" (Center) for a specific disease that will allow a body's immune system to produce antibodies that will fight the infection. Antibodies are naturally produced in the body when the immune system identifies an invader that does not belong. Once antibodies have been produced, the body will hold on to them, making the body much stronger and more prepared if the specific disease reenters into the body and tries to attack again.  Once a body has fought a disease once, it is less likely to be affected by it again. A vaccination will most likely not bring on symptoms of a disease, but will allow the body to protect itself from ever being affected. As soon as an immune response is triggered by the infection, antibodies specifically made for the disease will attack the invader cells and breakdown the foreign invader. It is the role of the immune system to protect the human body when it is invaded and vaccinations aid in this protection being efficient and effective.

Many parents are concerned about their child's safety. Some believe that vaccinating is the best way to protect their child, but others believe the vaccination will actually cause harm to their child. The ingredients in a vaccination can sometimes cause illness, and even fatality, but the likelihood of those events occurring is very, very slim. It is argued by Dr. Meryl Nass that vaccinations are neither safe nor ethical to administer. Her belief is brought about because of the idea of injecting children with unnatural substances. One example is aluminum, aluminum is in vaccines in order to cause a reaction that activates the production of antibodies in the immune system. Risks such as injecting children with unnatural substances are putting individuals in danger. Dr. Nass specifically discusses the study done on girls receiving the Gardasil vaccination.  This injection was recorded to cause many deaths for those who received it. The deaths were occurring with no real explanation as to what was going wrong. It is argued that there are too many unknowns and risks with vaccinations and until there are reasons why and answers to the infamous questions relating to vaccination safety, the administration should not continue. 

On the other hand, vaccinations can save your life. It's as simple as that. Many diseases in the world can cause major complications, including death. With the help of vaccinations, your body can protect itself at a more efficient and effective rate. When a vaccination stimulates the production of antibodies for a disease, these antibodies will not disappear, allowing the body to activate them when necessary. It has been reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that the measles vaccine had decrease childhood deaths by 74%. (ProCon). This is outstanding! The fact that lives can be saved every day because vaccines is very powerful and the success of vaccinations should be celebrated. It is stated by the American Academy of Pediatrics that "most childhood vaccines are 90% to 99% effective in preventing disease" (ProCon).

Parents who choose to vaccinate their child are saving them from suffering from many diseases their young immune systems could be corrupted by. As a baby, you do not have a well-developed immune systems like most adults do. This makes you very prone to illness and on top of that likely to suffer greater complications down the road. In a source from the CDC, the story of a baby named Parker is told. His parents decided to talk to their physician and learn the facts about vaccinations. As they saw all the support for vaccinations from credible medical professionals, they decided to begin the immunization schedule and get their young son vaccinated. As Parker underwent his four month old vaccinations, his parents were told he was "given the best protection there is from 14 serious diseases before he turns 2 years old" (What). Although there was parental anxiety from putting their son through the injections, Parker's parents knew they would be able to comfort him afterwards. As time went on they became more comfortable with the idea of vaccination because they knew they were protecting their son. Even though some new parent may be wary on the idea of vaccinating their young child, it is a parent's priority to protect their child and vaccinations offer the best protection from serious childhood diseases. By following an immunization schedule, it is likely "a child will not become exposed to these life threatening illnesses" (What) prior to the administration of the vaccination. By staying on schedule with immunizations, the best possible protection for a child's health is provided.

Another great example as to why vaccinations are so beneficial and lifesaving is because they protect those who cannot receive them. This is called 'herd immunity' and will help protect those who cannot be vaccinated for medical, religious, or ethical reasons. Herd immunity is defined as 80% of a population receiving a vaccination. What this does is makes it extremely difficult for a disease to spread through a population as most people are registered as immune to it. If the disease is unable to find a person to infect, then there is no way it can survive. Without a surviving disease, those who are not vaccinated are less likely to become ill from it. It is true that those suffering from cancer cannot receive vaccinations. As these individuals are already battling and suffering, the community surrounding them should do all they can to help out. There are endless efforts to help cancer patients continue their fight and survive, vaccinations over a population should be another effort to help save their lives. Susanna Esposito, a well-respected doctor, further discusses the topic of "children with cancer [possibly] be[ing] immunocompromised" (Esposito). Being immunocompromised means that one has a weakened immune system, therefore they are unable to fight back diseases and illness that a healthy body could. For cancer patients, the compromise is due to treatment. Chemotherapy breaks down and reduces the function of the immune system making these individuals more susceptible to illness. In order to provide protection for these individuals, the surrounding population can receive vaccinations and create the so called herd immunity making illness less likely to affect the immunocompromised.

On the religious and ethical side of things, herd immunity will also allow those who cannot be vaccinated for these reasons to follow their practices and stay healthy from the harmful illnesses. The same rules apply, if 80% of a population undergoes vaccination, it is highly likely that those who cannot be vaccinated will be exposed to a vaccine preventable disease. Just as there are exceptions for all other requirements in life, vaccinations would have exceptions as well. 

If we look at another side of the argument, specifically the rights of individuals, we go into the argument of how can the government control what our body is exposed to. A lot of people will argue that we have a right to our own body and no higher power should be able to speak for the population as a whole because how is that fair and right. This concept of government control on what humans as exposed to can be applied to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This is a government run company that controls the quality of food people consume, meaning they are controlling what substances go into the human body. How is a vaccination much different? It is not. One organization has been making vaccination available for 22 years for those who would not be able to afford them. The "Vaccines For Children (VFC) program is a federally funded program that provides vaccines at no cost to children who might not otherwise be vaccinated because of inability to pay" (VFC). This is so important because it offers the ability of vaccines for children while keeping them on schedule and protecting them from 16 diseases.  The government is already stepping in and supporting vaccinations.

Now we look into the world of those individuals who have chosen not to be vaccinated and evaluate their lives from this decision. It has been reported that "2.1 million children 19 to 35 months of age" (Smith) are undervaccinated, including children not vaccinated at all. These children are put "at [an] increased risk of acquiring and transmitting vaccine-preventable diseases" (Smith). A study was performed on "a total of 151,720 children sampled between 1995 and 2001, 795 of whom were unvaccinated" (Smith) in order to see what the reason was for the under- and un-vaccination. It was concluded that most children that were undervaccinated "tended to be black, to have a younger mother who was not married and did not have a college degree, to live in a household near the poverty level, and to live in a central city" (Smith). Those who were unvaccinated "tended to be white, to have a mother who was married and had a college degree, to live in a household with an annual income exceeding 75,000 dollars, and to have parents who expressed concerns regarding the safety of vaccines and indicated that medical doctors have little influence over vaccination decisions for their children" (Smith). It can be assumed that those who are undervaccinated do not have the resources to know when to and how to become vaccinated. While those who are unvaccinated tend to be from a family with parents concerned about the safety of vaccinations. (go into the health issues of those who do not become vaccinated and what this effect is on the community and their own personal health).

I strongly encourage that parents, healthcare professionals, and school administrators act on this issue and support the fight for childhood vaccination requirements. I suggest that these groups, as well as others who feel passionately about requiring vaccinations, ensure that children who can become vaccinated do so in order to protect themselves, their community, and those who cannot be vaccinated.

