Harnish 1

Caroline Harnish

Dr. Workman

English 1201 - 101

01 March 2022

Argument Critique

The dilemma on the topic of vaccinations for children or even adults has been a battle for

years and there has been no clear answer to the situation. Healthcare providers highly

recommend that children be vaccinated from birth till eighteen-years-old to ensure that they are

safe from diseases that are deadly, but parents are the ones who are afraid of side

effects/outcomes and the ingredients that they contain, which could potentially affect their

children long term. There are many factors that play into both sides of the dilemma, but there are

many myths and biases that need to be ruled out for this situation to be solved. The main reason

that we vaccinate in the United States and even in other countries is to eliminate the disease that

might find a comeback sometime in the future. Immunity is built from vaccines and that also

helps protect us from getting certain diseases. According to the CDC when babies are first born

they are starting to build their immune systems. They can fight most germs but some are deadly

to them without the vaccines; which actually help strengthen their immune systems. If a parent

chooses to not vaccinate their child, they are prone to get vaccine-preventable diseases and they

need to be careful because it can turn into a life threatening situation. Another thing is that most

of fifty states require children to get some vaccinations before starting public schools but there is

no law which backs it up (Curley).

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A Lot of the time parents who refuse to have their children get vaccinated will normally

tell you about all the harmful ingredients in them which is their reason for being against it.

Which is true, they include things like aluminum, MSG (Monosodium glutamate), but according

to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, “Aluminum is the third most common element after

oxygen….” and “the typical adult ingest 7-9 milligrams per day”. It can be found anywhere;

plants, soil, water and air, fruits, beer, wine, seasonings. According to my research throughout

the years, tested and FDA approved vaccines have proven to be effective where it is strictly

mandated. Unlike in the places where they are lenient and people opt out from getting them due

to their religion or their own personal beliefs, might create a higher chance of an outburst of

diseases that are prevented. These vaccines do not not just help the current generations but they

help the generations ahead of us also, because while many might be dying of the Covid disease

right now, hopefully one day it will be like the flu where it is normal but preventable. Yes, it will

still exist but we will be able to protect ourselves in some way by creating a reliable vaccine to

reduce the effects of this disease. While researching though I found many sources that applied to

the most recent Covid vaccine and a weakness that they all shared was the time that the FDA

took to somewhat approve the vaccine or say that it was safe to administer. This was a pretty

vaid point only because most FDA vaccines take multiple years to be approved. Another

weakness that my sources carry is that they might say that these vaccinations might be mandated

but as I said you can still get exemption due to medical or your beliefs.

All in all getting vaccines has more pros than cons, but it just helps the communities by

keeping their people safe and helps building a future for the world. As my sources share, most of

these vaccines are FDA approved and have been administered for years and years and there are

not many negative side effects. They also showed that getting that vaccination does have a lot of
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valid points but also that the other side of this contriversion argument has more points also. BUT

one thing that I would like to share is that in the world we live in today is just about individuals

making decisions that benefit them and not others and that is one of the issues that we have with

all our real world problems including this one.

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Works Cited

Curley, Bob. “ Should Childhood Vaccines Become Mandatory in the US?”. Healthline, 3
Aug.2019. www.healthline.com/health-news/should-childhood-vaccines-become-
mandatory-in-the-us
Ford, Matt. "Vaccine Mandates Are as American as Apple Pie." Gale Opposing Viewpoints
Online Collection, Gale, 2022. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints,
link.gale.com/apps/doc/RERLPP489401588/OVIC?u=dayt30401&sid=bookmark-
OVIC&xid=0d80b349. Accessed 20 Mar. 2022. Originally published as "Vaccine
Mandates Are as American as Apple Pie," The New Republic, 30 July 2021.
“Should Any Vaccines Be Required for Children?”. ProCon.org. 7 Aug.
2020https://vaccines.procon.org.
“Should vaccination be mandatory?” Meningitis Research Foundation, July 2017.
https://www.meningitis.org/blogs/should-vaccination-be-mandatory.
Mcrae, Mike. “There's a Big Problem With Making Vaccines Mandatory, And It's Worth Paying

Attention.” 29 Aug. 2019. https://www.sciencealert.com/as-effective-as-they-might-be-

making-vaccines-mandatory-breaks-trust-in-healthcare.

Lee, Deborah, and Rosalyn Carson-Dewitt. “Point: Vaccines Save Lives.” Points of View:

Vaccines & Health Hazards, Oct. 2017, p. 2. EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=pwh&AN=23575418&site=pov-live.

Kramer, Otis, and Ann Griswold. “Counterpoint: Parents Should Think Carefully about the Risks

of Vaccination.” Points of View: Vaccines & Health Hazards, Oct. 2017, p. 3.

EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=pwh&AN=23575419&site=pov-live.

“Risks of Delaying or Skipping Vaccines”. CDC - Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/parents/why-vaccinate/risks-delaying-vaccines.html.