
Imagine living in a country where there are constant outbreaks of diseases and widespread fear of not knowing who will be affected next. In particular, imagine one of your closest family members or friends falling ill to a fatal disease and not having the ability to do anything about it. Fortunately, in the United States, we have vaccinations available to us and can avoid such implications; however, they are only effective if we utilize them. Since its emergence, vaccines have become considered controversial and more parents are refusing to get their children vaccinated in the hopes to keep their children out of harm's way. Although I can acknowledge that no parent wants to see their child suffer from the effects of vaccines, rest assured it is significantly more important to consider how many lives we could potentially be saving just by getting vaccinated. This argument is valid because it is an issue that we have faced since the introduction of vaccines. As a result, the need today is to convince patients that although there are benefits and risks when it comes to getting vaccinated, the benefits outweigh the risks. In order to reach this goal, we need to educate individuals on vaccinations so that herd immunity will not continue to fail. 

Although there are certain dangers when it comes time to get vaccinated, it is important to consider the benefits and how they outweigh the risks involved. By definition, a benefit is an advantage gained from something. When we choose to get vaccinated, we gain immunity and thus the ability to resist a particular infection or toxin. One particular science correspondent for Reason Magazine, argued that people should not be allowed to refuse vaccination because it places others in harm's way by putting everyone at risk. This argument is valid because it stems from an idea that has come to be known as herd immunity. Herd immunity is a term meaning the chance of an outbreak is very low and can be easily contained. As a result, when more people choose to avoid vaccines, herd immunity begins to fail, causing diseases to spread and prevail. With that being said, as Bailey puts it, getting vaccinated should be necessary as it not only saves individuals, but also communities at large (Bailey). Besides communities, herd immunity is especially important for those people who are not eligible for vaccines, such as young infants, cancer patients, and immunocompromised individuals, because they are at higher risk of potentially fatal consequences if infected. Needless to say, some people actually depend on herd immunity for protection alone. In another article titled, "The Benefits of Vaccination Outweigh the Risks", the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Vaccine Education Center made an effort to provide information on the long approval process for vaccines, demonstrating how much effort is put into each individual one. For example, it was noted that the vaccine for chicken pox, a common vaccine, took about eleven years to be licensed by the Food and Drug Administration ("Benefits"). It is important to consider how much time, effort, and testing is put into each and every vaccine just to ensure its effectiveness and safety. This can be considered beneficial to patients because medical professionals ultimately want to help their patients and prevent disease, not cause harm among communities. Another reason why we should get vaccinated came about in a recent study funded by the National Institutes of Health. This new study confirmed the association between vaccine refusals and recent United States outbreaks of measles and pertussis. Saad Omer, a professor of global health at Emory University and the senior author for this study, confirmed that the "most common form of vaccine refusal is when parents claim non-medical exemption to a school's mandatory immunization requirements" (Kee). This particular piece of information is significant in that it addresses how people are getting around mandatory vaccines, and it details how there has been a steady increase of these so called conflicts in the last twenty years.  Furthermore, it is especially appalling that these non-medically exempt children make up for approximately two-thirds of those who are eligible for vaccines (Kee). Ultimately, as mentioned previously, it is especially important to help those who cannot medically receive vaccinations and who may be more susceptible to severe consequences. Overall, people should find it alarming that out of the 1,416 measles cases reported in the United States between the years 2000 and 2015, approximately 56.8% were in unvaccinated individuals. As a result of people choosing to not get vaccinated, individuals experienced a very dangerous "first wave" of the epidemic. It was also discovered in the study that the vaccine for measles is 97% effective at prevention, so it is fairly rare for people to become infected. In regards to the subject of pertussis, the study found that out of the eight nationwide pertussis outbreaks, approximately 59-93% of the cases were from individuals who were intentionally unvaccinated (Kee). Overall, as a result of these outbreaks, it can only be concluded that the only thing to combat "waning immunity" would be to increase immunization rates. In a podcast published by the Center for Disease Control, Dr. Lisa Grohskopf places further emphasis on the need to increase immunization rates. The major claim of the audio was to discuss the importance of getting vaccinated, particularly when it comes to the flu just because some people are at higher risk of getting seriously ill. The audio then lists individuals who are potentially more at risk of getting sick, such as the elderly, pregnant women, and infants. Based off these pieces of evidence, it is important to consider the benefits and how many people we could potentially be helping as opposed to being overly concerned about the risks involved. 

Despite the array of benefits that can come out of getting vaccinated, it is also important to consider why individuals would refuse to get them in the first place, and that is because they can be risky. After all, no vaccine is 100% effective even if everyone does the right thing by getting it (Kee). In an article titled "Evidence Does Not Show That Benefits of Vaccination Outweigh the Risks", one medical research journalist and director of the Thinktwice Global Vaccine Institute, Neil Z. Miller, questioned vaccinations. He firmly believes that no organization has established any significant evidence that proves they are beneficial, and claims that research on vaccine safety shows hazards and immunity limitations (Miller). Throughout his research, Miller suggests that vaccine safety is often exaggerated and false, thus leading to the conclusion that vaccines are both unsafe and ineffective. In fact, he argues that some vaccines cause new diseases. Furthermore, the author informs the audience that most people actually have no idea how vaccines are made and what they contain. For example, many vaccines today contain Formaldehyde, aluminum, and Thimerosal, which is a considerably dangerous mercury derivative (Miller). In addition to the ingredients that are present in vaccines, patients may also be unaware of poorly designed testing. In his research, Miller suggests that an honest study would compare vaccinated people to an unvaccinated population (Miller). Vaccine control groups also evidently rarely receive a true placebo. In other words, when new vaccines are being compared to other vaccines, the rate of adverse reactions will tend to be artificially high, thus making the newer vaccine appear safer than it really is. Another article titled, "Vaccines Have Not Been Proven to Be Safe or Effective", one medical doctor by the name of Sherri Tenpenny advocates for free choice in healthcare, which would mean having the right to refuse vaccination. 

She argues this based off how researchers define an effective vaccine. According to experimenters, an effective vaccine is one that creates antibodies after being deposited into the bloodstream, so one vaccine is considered to be more effective than another if the first vaccine causes a larger antibody response when compared to the second. In actuality, the medical community agree that an effective vaccine should fully protect a person from the infection (Tenpenny). As an example, the chickenpox vaccine would be considered effective if, during something such as an outbreak, patients did not contract the disease. However, as history has shown today, many outbreaks have occurred in fully vaccinated populations, thus leading us to believe that no vaccine falls under the definition of effective. In fact, one outbreak of measles occurred in a group where more than ninety-nine percent of the population had been vaccinated (Tenpenny). Although these situations present challenges to parents, it is difficult to argue against them because they are often written off as conspiracy theories. As a result, parents have learned through experience that it can be difficult to challenge their pediatrician's voice when it comes to vaccine mandates. Overall, Tenpenny believes that public health officials tend to attribute low infection rates to mandatory vaccination policies when we should be giving further credit to improved personal hygiene and other modern day conveniences, including indoor plumbing. As this particular researcher puts it, vaccine safety has yet to be proven and only provides for false security when it comes to the topic of protection. In a video titled "Should you get Vaccinated?" the responsibility of getting vaccinated is put on the individual. It is introduced that some vaccinations can have side effects, like soreness and fever. Although these can be considered minor consequences, they still cause harm to an individual and thus signal that vaccinations are not one-hundred percent safe for individuals. As a result of this evidence, it is easy to see that sometimes, vaccines can be risky; however, rest assured, the benefits outweigh the risks based off further evidence.  

Research suggests that vaccines can be considered both beneficial and risky. There are two different movements when it comes to the issue of vaccination; however, there are some patients who are stuck in the middle. In particular, a study conducted at the University of Michigan shows that, although many parents overwhelmingly support the belief that vaccines are a great way to protect generations from disease, there are some express concerns in regards to the potential adverse effects of vaccines ("Vaccines"). In particular, there are four vaccines that parents tend to shy away from and the greatest of these concerns were based on something they had read or heard. For example, parents seemed to be concerned about the Human papillomavirus because of concerns about side effects, the vaccine for meningococcal disease because of the risk for an immune system disorder, the short for measles, mumps, and rubella, because of potential autism risk, and the chickenpox vaccine ("Vaccines"). Due to these findings, the author concluded that the current public health education campaigns have yet to be effective, so officials should make more of an effort to assuage parents' safety concerns. Something that we should also consider when it comes to getting vaccinated is the media and how they play a role in how they are perceived. In an article titled, "The Anti-Vaccine Movement Is Given False Equivalence by the Media", the main idea was to address the major role the media plays when it comes to vaccinations and how they only introduce negative headlines. In other words, the media is more likely to take advantage of stories that harm individuals because that is ultimately what interests the public. As a result, more people will tend to shy away from vaccines. This particular article is especially relevant because it utilizes one famous actress by the name of Jenny McCarthy and introduces her stance on anti-vaccination. When her son was diagnosed with autism, she immediately initiated the anti-vaccination movement, believing that her son's diagnosis was correlated with vaccines. Because she was in the public eye, she made headlines for her new movement; however, when many people began to ridicule her, she admitted that she had made some ignorant comments. These findings only suggest that we should be more careful when it comes to the media. The media can essentially be a dangerous form of information, and individuals should seek advise from medical professionals prior to getting vaccinated. In a magazine periodical titled, "Straight Talk about Vaccination", emphasis is placed on vaccination and how parents have been misled by information in the press and on the Internet. The source is considered relevant because it addresses the role the media plays when it comes to vaccinations, and the media, as mentioned previously, is something may parents rely on for incite on a day to day basis. Ideally, the author suggests that physicians and other health experts can no longer assume that parents will readily agree to get their children vaccinated and leave discussions about the potential risks involved to the last minute. Ultimately, he believes that it is up to these medical experts to be more proactive by providing better information and engaging parents much earlier than usual (Daley). By providing awareness and information on the subject at an earlier time, parents will be able to make an educated decision on whether or not to vaccinate their children and come to the conclusion on whether the benefits are worth it and outweigh the risks involved. Lastly, in another magazine periodical titled, "Delaying Vaccines Increases Risks-with No Added Benefits", the issue of parents delaying vaccines out of a misinformed belief is again brought to question. As a result, not only do parents have to worry about whether the benefits of vaccines will outweigh the risks, but they also have to consider the timing. According to the article, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention annually updates its recommended childhood immunization schedule, so prior to getting vaccinated, parents should, if they so choose to get their children vaccinated, be educated on when the vaccinations should be administered in the hopes to avoid rare reactions (Haelle). Essentially, being in the middle in regards to the topic of vaccines means being aware of the benefits and risks, and taking action after being fully educated. Sometimes, it is not in an individual's best interest to get vaccinated, especially if they are an infant or a cancer patient. However, if a child is fully capable of getting vaccinated, meaning they are healthy, they should their part in order to increase herd immunity and help communities. 

In conclusion, it is significantly more important to get vaccinated so that we can save individuals and prevent widespread diseases that could potentially wipe out entire communities of people. It is especially important for those that are healthy enough to receive vaccinations so that we can protect those that medically cannot through herd immunity. If we do not get vaccinated, then herd immunity will fail and diseases will spread, causing outbreaks and thus potentially fatal consequences. We have seen diseases wipe out entire populations of people, so why not make an effort to stop this from happening. Ultimately, vaccines serve a purpose and would essentially not be around if the benefits did not outweigh the risks. 
