In 1796, Edward Jenner created a breakthrough by “vaccinating” a young eight-year-old boy from smallpox (Stern). Since then, vaccination has transformed into one of the greatest medical achievements of modern civilization. Due to the overwhelming effectiveness of vaccinations, doubts have formed leading individuals to oppose and protest vaccines. However, the beliefs of anti-vaccinationists’ no longer affect just individuals in a society, but is escalating into a social and health issue that is beginning to affect the whole country due to lack of herd immunity. Therefore, several actions need to take place to pose as a solution to this problem. In order to halt a decline in anti-vaccinations, Americans must answer the question: What is better? Natural immunity or vaccine acquired immunity? Should vaccines be free choice and does an individual’s choice not to get vaccinated put others at risk? Before solutions can be put into action, Americans must explain the cause and effect issue occurring from vaccine retaliation. The answer lies in the fact that objections to vaccines have led to: 1) an unacceptably high number of vaccine exemptions for children in school, 2) individuals ignoring the “herd-immunity” benefits of vaccination and therefore putting others at risk for illness and, 3) individual’s being undereducated on vaccines – erroneously believing the rare side effects are more harmful than the benefits of vaccination.

According to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Vaccine Education Center, “vaccines are made of dead or weakened antigens” (Pappas). Because of this, the dead or weakened antigens cannot cause an infection; however, they are still able to allow the immune system to see them as an enemy and produce antibodies to ward them off (Pappas). Once this is done, the immune cells put them in their memory to remain in the body and if the antigen enters the body again, the immune cells will be able to produce antibodies faster and take out the antigens quicker (Pappas). In spite of vaccination advancements, many people believe in a divergent solution termed “natural immunity”. Natural immunity is when a person is exposed to a live pathogen and develops a primary immune response, which leads to immunological memory (Pappas). Many people prefer this because “natural infection almost always causes better immunity than vaccines” whereas immunity from vaccines “usually occurs only after several doses” (Pappas). However, the difference between vaccine infection and natural infection is the price paid for immunity. By law before a vaccine can be licensed in the United States, it must undergo very extensive testing by the Food and Drug Administration, also referred to as the FDA (Pappas). Once in use, vaccines are continually monitored for safety and efficacy. Vaccines are human’s best defense against infectious diseases, but no vaccine is 100 percent safe or 100 percent effective (Pappas). But if a vaccine is not 100 percent, why should parents force their kids to get vaccinated?

This is where the issue begins. Since no United States federal vaccination laws exist, many parents do not see the need to have their children vaccinated. However, all 50 states have laws that require children to be vaccinated against various disease, including polio and measles, as a prerequisite to enrolling them in public schools (Ciolli). In most states, a child can attend school or day care without receiving such vaccinations if a proper exemption is obtained for religious, and sometimes philosophical, objections (Wolfson). However, when there is an outbreak of vaccine-preventable diseases, children who have not had the disease and who have not been vaccinated are often excluded from school or day care (Wolfson). Jack Wolfson is a cardiologist at Wolfson Integrative Cardiology and he believes that “our children have the right to get infections. [Humans] have immune systems for that purpose…We cannot sterilize the body [with vaccines] … We need to be affected by these viruses… and we can treat it all naturally.” (Wolfson). Along with Wilson, Neil Z. Miller believes that “health authorities do not believe that your child is entitled to be educated unless he or she has first been indoctrinated and intoxicated by the demigods of vaccination. Parents who question the necessity and morality of this dangerous and invasive policy are derisively informed that unvaccinated children are a scourge on society.” (Miller). Miller also believes that many people are being forced to vaccinate their children or else the “protective cocoon will fail”, meaning that vaccines only work when there is “herd immunity” (Miller). Along with Wolfson and Miller, Barbara Fisher, Co-founder and President of the National Vaccines Information Center, believes that “if [citizens] cannot be free to make informed, voluntary decisions about which pharmaceutical products we are willing to risk our lives for, then we are not free in any sense of the word”. Since vaccines are not “legally required for [ones] child to enter school, each state offers legal exemptions to “mandatory” injections” (Miller). As a consequence, the number of vaccine exemptions for children in school has greatly increased. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), a “sharp spike in exemptions in the 2013-2014 school year [caused] nearly 80,000 US kindergarteners” to be exempted from receiving at least one vaccine (Ciolli). 

Vaccines were first introduced over 200 years ago to help people “build antibodies that enable and create a defense against illness” (Zangger 22). However, over the past 10 years’ parents have felt hesitant towards vaccinating their children, “causing the risk of infectious disease to the young and old to increase” (Zangger 22). Today’s parents seem to be concerned with possible side effects from vaccines which is what is causing them to refuse vaccination of their children from deadly diseases. As a result of current United States law stating that vaccination upon kindergarten entry is required, for those without exemption reasons, current national vaccine rates remain high. However, allowing the personal belief exemptions entails in low vaccination rates and developed into the root reason for herd immunity to become nearly impossible to obtain. Those who do not get vaccinated serve as “hot spots” that allow outbreaks against diseases that would otherwise ensure national herd immunity (Ciolli). A PACV survey was created as a valid tool “to help identify vaccine-hesitant parents” and allow for an “increase in the number of times a [parent is] exposed to evidence-based vaccine information” (Zangger 29). Essentially, by providing PowerPoints on vaccines to parents its relinquishes the fears and worries some had and cause them to decide to get their infant vaccinated. 

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) stated that the best way to reduce vaccine-preventable disease is “to have a highly immune population” (CDC). Universal vaccination is a critical part of quality health care and should be “accomplished through routine and intensive vaccination programs implemented in physicians’ offices and in public health clinics. Programs should be established and maintained in all communities to ensure vaccination of all children at the recommended age” (CDC). Physicians and other health-care providers should simultaneously administer as many vaccine doses as possible, as indicated on the Recommended Child and Adolescent Immunization Schedule. Frederica Wilson, a United States Representative (D-FL), was a former elementary school principal and knows first-hand “the importance of childhood vaccinations” (Wilson). To Wilson, “research has shown that vaccinations are effective; they keep children healthy, save lives, and protect future generations of Americans” (Wilson). As citizens, the health and safety of children should be a top priority and children who are not vaccinated “put themselves and others in danger of acquiring and spreading preventable disease, particularly to those individuals who cannot receive vaccinations, such as infants, pregnant women, and individuals with compromised immune systems, including the elderly (Wilson). 

 Several studies have been performed to show that vaccines really are important to the well-being of citizens. From April of 2015 until May of 2016, a study was performed where a large outbreak of mumps occurred at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It was discovered that 89% of the patients with mumps only received at least 2 doses of measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine and not the recommended 3. 16% of patients had received 3 doses, 73% had received 2 doses, 4% had received 1 dose, 2% were unvaccinated, and 5% had an unknown vaccination status (Albertson). This study proved that if all patients had been vaccinated in the first place, and vaccinated to the full extent, “herd-immunity” would have existed. Thus, preventing the outbreak from even occurring in the first place and saving many families money on medical bills and treatments that were required to help save their children’s lives. Another study performed by Philip R. Johnson divided 59 young children into four groups based on prior exposure to influenza A virus: natural infection, live cold-adapted vaccine, inactivated vaccine given, and no previous exposure. The study concluded that a live cold-adapted vaccine was the best for the children and helped them recover the quickest and safest. Providing statistical and demonstrative evidence that vaccines are the best choice for children, Johnson’s study shows that because the parents did not vaccinate their young, they put the other children at risk for the Influenza A virus and broke the benefits of “herd-immunity”. Also, thinking they could trust natural immunity of their child, each parents learned that vaccinating their kids is actually the safest and quickest way to make sure they grow up healthy.

Just as some people believe one thing, there are always two sides to the story. In 1882, anti-vaccionationists’ met for the first time creating a plethora of similar questions and arguments. From the years following their first meeting, many began to believe that the rare side effects are more harmful than the benefits of vaccination. Eventually, a study was debuted, giving reason to believe that vaccinating infants was associated to children becoming diagnose with autism. When Dr. Andrew Wakefield published an article in the medical journal Lancet claiming “nine children who showed signs of autism within days of being inoculated for measles, mumps and rubella” he provided a glimpse of hope and for the time being, statistical proof that the side effects of vaccines were not worth it (Park). However, Dr. Wakefield failed to mark a disclaimer that the developmental disorder already found in young children, vaccinated or not, is commonly seen in children with autism regardless (Wakefield). Also, Dr. Wakefield’s studies were conducted without “ethical approval of the hospital” and he was also paying “children at [Dr. Wakefield’s] son’s birthday party for blood samples” (Park). Thus, causing his article to be retracted and debunked. Even though Dr. Wakefield’s article has since been disproven, many parents still believe vaccines cause other side effects and since they are being administered so early, they are destroying the chance for people to acquire natural immunity. 

During the years of 2009-2015, a study was conducted on the vaccination coverage for selected disease among children aged 19-35 months, by race, origin, poverty level, and location of residence in the metropolitan United States area. The study was conducted because immunization programs in the United States have been remarkably successful, virtually eliminating disease like measles and polio. However, experts became worried that cracks could be appearing in the public health system that would allow outbreaks of disease to occur, even though vaccines are readily available.  The study found that those who lived below poverty level were more likely to be undereducated on vaccines and that as many as 2.1 million American children weren’t getting timely vaccination because of holes in the public health system. If Americans as a whole are able to unite and find ways to educate and promote the benefits of such undereducated parents, then we would be able to fill the gap that is growing. A final study was performed by Allison M. Kennedy and tested if a parent’s belief regarding compulsory vaccination for school entry was significantly associated with beliefs in the safety and utility of vaccines. It found that at least one child under the age of 18 years old living with their parents, 12% were opposed to compulsory vaccination due to their parents’ beliefs. Kennedy concluded that providing information to parents regarding vaccines would be beneficial to reduce opposition to compulsory vaccination and that the parents would then be able to pass the information onto their children. The long-term effects of Kennedy’s solution is important because it would help decrease the undereducated who erroneously believe the rare side effects are more harmful than the benefits of vaccination. Philip J. Smith published an essay about the association between parents’ beliefs about vaccines, their decision to delay or refuse vaccines for their children, and vaccination coverage of children at aged 24 months. It was discovered that those who delayed and/or refused were more likely to have concerns towards vaccines and believed there were fewer benefits associated with vaccines. Because of this, and many other studies and knowledgeable claims, it is safe to conclude that when it comes to the well-being of those we love and those around us, vaccinating our young is the safest route we as Americans can take.

Many people believe that "vaccines save lives and protect against the spread of disease.” (AAPS). By deciding not to immunize your child, you put your child at risk and they could catch a disease that is dangerous or deadly. When thinking of the consequences, one should see that getting vaccinated is much better than getting the disease. Over years it has been successfully proven that vaccines work. They have kept and continue to keep children healthy and have saved millions of lives for more than 50 years. The reason most childhood vaccines are recommended is because “vaccines are 90% to 99% effective in prevent diseases” (CDC). Also, all vaccines are safe and have to be tested by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) before they are allowed to be administered. In many parts of the world many vaccine-preventable diseases are still common. Since diseases may be brought into the United States by Americans who travel abroad or from people visiting areas with current disease outbreaks it's important that children are vaccinated. 

Vaccines immensely improved the quality of life by leading to the elimination of deadly disease and nearly eradicating people of diseases such as diphtheria, polio, and measles. The United States must realize that when those who choose not to vaccinate their children, they not only put their own children at risk but hurt those others by ruining herd immunity and causing a lower population of the world to be healthy. While vaccines do cost money, they are inevitable cheaper than the alternative of expensive medical bills or worse, the cost of a funeral. Due to children being young it should not be a free will choice but getting vaccinated should be mandatory for everyone once 24 months of age. As stated prior, Americans must recognize that the beliefs of anti-vaccinationists’ no longer affect just individuals in a society, but is escalating into a social and health issue that is beginning to affect the whole country. Once our government provides all of American with the knowledge that the benefits of vaccination outweigh the rare side effects, they will also provide American citizens with the means to do so. Through education, the government will provide citizens with the available means to understand that exemption belief rates must be lowered to ensure herd-immunity. As an effect, less kids will be sick causing a decrease in school absences, and an increase in parental income. The future of longer and healthier lives lay in the palm of America’s hands, and we are at our own mercy. 
