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Elizabeth Gatti
Professor Nathan Cole
English 2010
27 July 2014

Vaccinations for Preventable Diseases Should Be Made Mandatory By Law
We, as a society, are responsible for the control of preventable diseases that can be
achieved if every member becomes vaccinated. There are many different opinions on this issue
that come from many different sources including the healthcare industry, parents, educational
experts, and government agencies. Vaccines have been proven to be safe through many different
research studies. Research also proves that disease rates and also hospitalization rates are far
decreased after the widespread use of vaccinations. Parents need to be educated that the decision
to vaccinate their children is helping not only their child to be well, but our society as a whole to
be free of these preventable illnesses. There are currently no federal requirements for
vaccinations, so the states are left to regulate them. One example is the vaccines that are required
to attend school. However, there are still many parents who choose to unnecessarily exempt their
children from participating in these lifesaving interventions. It is my opinion that in order to
prevent many illnesses, vaccinations should be mandatory by law and there should be fewer
exemptions allowed.
As a registered nurse that works in a hospital setting, I understand that it is always better
to prevent a disease than to treat it after it occurs. There are many diseases and illnesses that used
to be prevalent in the United States including polio, diphtheria, tetanus, rotavirus, measles,
mumps, and pertussis. Before the introduction of vaccinations, many lost their lives to these
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illnesses. Now, we have a way to be immunized to not be at risk for getting sick, and in turn,
spreading these illnesses to others.
Our immune system is an amazing thing. When a foreign invader enters our body, also
called antigens, the immune system recognizes them and produces special proteins called
antibodies to fight and destroy these disease antigens. Antibody production takes time, and the
immune system cant work fast enough against the rapidly growing antigens, so the person ends
up getting sick. If the same antigen enters the body again, the immune system remembers it and
already has the antibodies present to destroy the antigens very quickly, so that the person doesnt
get sick. Vaccines are small doses of these antigens that are dead or weakened so that they dont
cause symptoms of the illness. The immune system can then produce the antibodies to fight the
antigen the first time that it enters the body (Why Are Childhood Vaccines So Important?).
Vaccines are proven to reduce cases of reported illnesses and hospitalizations. One
example is the incidence of measles infection historically. This graph depicts the number of
cases of reported measles each year. If you look at when the vaccine was developed the cases
dropped significantly.
(Some Common Misconceptions)
In contrast, in May of this year, there was an outbreak of measles that was the highest number of
cases in the first five months of the year since 1994. A large number of these cases occurred in
an Amish community when they traveled to the Philippines to render humanitarian aid. Their
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culture does not believe in immunizations, so many of them were affected within their
community (Mehrotra). This demonstrates the potency of how fast these illnesses spread in areas
that do not receive immunizations.
There are many groups that are in opposition to the requirements of vaccines. They feel
that vaccines arent safe, or dont work, or that they are a part of a conspiracy. This simply is not
true. Worldwide health organizations including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
and the World Health Organization have always been promoters of vaccines since their
development. They also make it their responsibility to keep track of undesired side effects and
continue to research their effectiveness and ensure that they are safe to be given to everyone. An
adverse event does not necessarily mean that the vaccine caused the event. Although vaccines
are known to cause minor, temporary side effects, such as soreness or fever, there is little, if any,
evidence linking vaccination with permanent health problems or death (Global Vaccine
Safety).
In the US, all states have requirements for children who attend public schools and state-
licensed day care facilities to receive a series of vaccinations. There is no federal mandate that
requires this. Today, 48 states have procedures that allow parents to exempt their children from
these required vaccinations on the basis of medical reasons, or religious or personal beliefs.
Parents who refuse vaccination on philosophical grounds point not to religious
beliefs but often cite their right to determine the medical care of their children
without government involvement. However, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled on
several occasions that state vaccination requirements are permissible, writing that
the very concept of ordered liberty precludes allowing every person to make his
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own standards on matters of conduct in which the society as a whole has
important interests (Vaccination Requirements).
Making fewer exemptions allowable will decrease the number of unvaccinated people in our
society.
In conclusion, I feel that if we, as a society keep our vaccination rates high, there will be
less chances of these devastating preventable diseases that we will have to worry about.
Vaccines are proven to be safe and effective by those who are experts in healthcare. We have
been given the opportunity to be vaccinated at little or no cost by health departments, insurance
companies, hospitals, doctors offices, health fairs, etc. We have a good system of state
requirements in place, but there are too many exceptions allowed by these statutes. I feel that if
people are better educated about the science of how vaccines work, that they will choose not to
be exempt from receiving them, or having their children receive them.











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Works Cited
Global Vaccine Safety. who.int. 7 April 2014. Web. 30 June 2014.
Mehrotra, Karishma. Measles Cases Spike to Highest Level Since 1994. Wall Street Journal.
30 May 2014: A2. Print.
Some Common Misconceptions About Vaccination and How to Respond to Them.cdc.gov. 18
Feb. 2011. Web. 30 June 2014.
Vaccination Requirements and Exemptions. VaccineEthics.org. July 2010. Web. 14 July
2014.
Why are Childhood Vaccines So Important? cdc.gov. 19 May 2014. Web. 14 July 2014.