Klein

Aimee Klein
Noyce
English 9
April 13, 2015
Vaccination Research Paper
Vaccination requirements are a very controversial issue around the world. In countries all
over the world, governments are pressuring people to get vaccinations for themselves and their
children. The benefits of vaccines far outweigh the side effects. There was a time when
vaccinations were considered a luxury to people because they were not widely available. There
are several articles that support mandatory vaccinations. The articles Vaccines Prevent Infectious
Diseases written by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Disneyland
Measles Outbreak linked to Place With Low Vaccination Rate written by Alexandra Sifferlin,
Governments Force Children to Get Vaccinated written by Christina England, and The AntiVaccine Movement Disregards the Great Success of Vaccines written by Yoo Jung Kim discuss
the advantages and disadvantages of required vaccinations. Vaccinations should be mandatory
with minor exceptions because vaccines improve the quality of our health and can prevent a
disease before it occurs in the first place.
Vaccinations are one of the greatest discoveries to the health of the world, the more
people who get vaccinated the greater resistance we have towards that disease. Vaccinations have
reduced the number of infectious diseases. In a recent article, Yoo Jung Kim states As more
people are vaccinated, the virulence of disease fades away from public memory, and the

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populations tolerance for side effects---even imagined ones---drops even further. There is a
direct connection between communities being vaccinated and the reduction of infectious disease.
People can carry diseases even if they have been vaccinated therefore if someone is vaccinated it
reduces the chance of infecting another person. The norms of the community place value on the
benefits of the vaccines. So it is up to the community whether or not they have the goal of
preventing diseases. In December of 2014, there was a measles outbreak at Disneyland,
California. Researches at Boston Childrens Hospital found that the measles outbreak was a
result of low vaccination rates: The researchers found that the vaccination rates for the areas
were somewhere between 50 to 86% which is significantly lower than the 96 to 99% rate needed
to create herd immunity.. when a significant portion of the population is protected so that theres
a low risk of an infectious disease outbreak (Alexandra Sifferlin). In the Disneyland incident,
people traveled there for a brief period of time and returned home. This brought up the fact that
diseases can be contracted in one small area and spread to other communities at a rapid rate. If
vaccinations were mandatory this incident would not have happened, or at least the spread of
disease would not have been so widespread.
From an economic perspective it is less expensive to vaccinate someone as opposed to
treating the disease. Its interesting how vaccinations work, according to the National Institute of
Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Vaccines are effective because they artificially create acquired
immunity, which naturally occurs after a person is infected and survives. There is not a
compromise to this issue, people are either vaccinated or not. For the countries that dont have
the means of treating the disease, a vaccine is a much more reasonable alternative of managing
the disease.

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On the other hand, there are those who believe that children without being vaccinated are
no more immune to diseases than children who have been vaccinated. A paper written by Peter
Aaby titled Vaccinated Children Get Milder Measles Infection: A Community Study from Guinea
Bissau, states that vaccinated children who contracted measles developed a milder form of the
disease clearly that vaccinated children are no more protected from the measles than their
unvaccinated peers (England, Christina). Even though various children who were already
vaccinated contracted a milder form of the disease, the effects were still less severe. In a 2005
study, researchers found that it costs far less to vaccinate a person than to treat the preventable
disease. Since vaccinations were developed there has been considerable research and
development to improve the vaccine and minimize the negative affects; Current developments
in vaccine technology promise increased safety and efficacy (Yoo Jung Kim). Although some
believe that vaccines arent as effective as they should be, they still reduce the amount of
infections and the severity of the disease. Although vaccines are not a perfect disease prevention
method with real, but very rare, risks, developments are still working on improving them as a
whole.
Vaccinations improve the quality of a communitys health and can prevent a disease
before it occurs. Vaccinations should be mandatory with minor exceptions. As the number of
people who are vaccinated increases the number of infectious viruses decreases, which in the
future can lead to herd immunity against diseases. Vaccines work in astonishing ways; they
artificially acquire immunity to infections. Also, vaccines are less expensive compared to treating
the virus. Although vaccines are not always flawless, science and developments are still being
made to improve vaccinations.

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Work Cited
England, Christina. Governments Force Children to Get Vaccinated. Should Vaccinations be
Mandatory? Ed. Roman Espejo. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press, 2014. At
Issue. Rpt. from These Tricks Are Played to Get You to Vaccinate Your Child.
Vactruth.com. 2013. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 11 Feb. 2015.
Kim, Yoo Jung. The Anti-Vaccine Movement Disregards the Great Success of Vaccines.
Should Vaccinations be Mandatory? Ed. Roman Espejo. Farmington Hills, MI:
Greenhaven Press, 2014. At Issue. Rpt. from Busting the Anti-Vaccine Epidemic.
Dartmouth Undergraduate Journal of Science 12 (Fall 2011). Opposing Viewpoints in
Context. Web. 11 Feb. 2015.
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Vaccines Prevent Infectious Diseases. So
Infectious Diseases Pose a Threat? Ed. Roman Espejo. Detriot: Greenhaven Press, 2014.
At Issue. Rpt. from Vaccines: Understanding. Opposing Viewpoint in Context. Web.
11 Feb. 2015
Sifferlin, Alexandra. Disneyland, measles outbreak linked to low vaccination rates, researchers
say. Orange Country Register [Santa Ana, CA] 17 Mar.2015. Student Resources in
Context. Web. 7 April. 2015