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Position Paper

Should Vaccination Be Required Among the Citizens in the Philippines?

Vaccination is one of the most effective public health interventions in the world for saving lives
and promoting good health. In the middle of a pandemic, one can only assume the importance of
vaccines. Only clean water, which is considered to be a basic human right, performs better. Vaccines
aren’t just made to combat against harmful viruses. There are also vaccines made for different diseases
which may or may not be preventable due to how many harmful bacteria we are exposed to. For
example, during infancy, we are usually given vaccine shots. Why? It’s so that we can fight off the many
harmful bacteria we are exposed to in our most vulnerable state. Yet, the uptake on vaccines in some
areas around the globe are still at a stand-still on whether or not vaccines are actually safe or not;
unsure of what vaccines are capable of. Here are a number of reasons why vaccination is a great thing
and why it should be required for all of us and some reasons of why I think some are still wary of
vaccines.

Here are most of what makes vaccines great and why they should be required…

Vaccines overall are safe for everyone. Experts will not develop a vaccine that can potentially
harm people. Vaccines often run through a number of tests and procedures as well as take account for
all the possible risks before distributing.

Vaccine-preventable diseases have not been completely eradicated. Examples of these include
Polio, Measles, Mumps, Whooping Cough (Pertussis), Influenza (Flu), Hepatitis A, Human Papillomavirus
(HPV), Meningococcal Disease. Viruses and bacteria that cause illness and death still exist and can still be
passed on to those who are not vaccinated.

Vaccine-preventable diseases’ treatments are expensive. Diseases not only have a direct impact
on individuals and their families, but also carry a high price tag for society as a whole, exceeding $10
billion per year. An average flu illness can last up to 15 days, typically with five or six missed work or
school days. Adults who get hepatitis A lose an average of one month of work (NFID, 2021).

Vaccines are one of if not the most effective approach in minimizing the dispersion of the virus.
Vaccines mimic the virus or bacteria that causes disease and triggers the body’s creation of antibodies.
These antibodies will provide protection once a person is infected with the actual disease-causing virus
or bacteria.

When you get sick, your children, grandchildren, and parents may be at risk too. Adults are the
most common source of pertussis (whooping cough) infection in infants which can be deadly for babies.
When you get vaccinated, you are protecting yourself and your family as well as those in your
community who may not be able to be vaccinated.

Vaccines will keep you healthy. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
recommends vaccinations throughout your life to protect against many infections. When you skip
vaccines, you leave yourself vulnerable to illnesses such as shingles, pneumococcal disease, flu, and HPV
and hepatitis B, both leading causes of cancer.
 Vaccines are as important to your overall health as diet and exercise. Like eating healthy foods,
exercising, and getting regular check-ups, vaccines play a vital role in keeping you healthy. Vaccines are
one of the most convenient and safest preventive care measures available.

Even with all these countless testimonies and reasons why vaccines should be required, there
are still a lot that doubt the safety of vaccines. By playing devil’s advocate, Let’s go through a number of
reasons why I think some are still doubtful over vaccines while also debunking them…

Past experiences with vaccines. An example of this is the Dengvaxia vaccine in the Philippines.
The vaccine was found to increase the risk of disease severity for some people who had received it
revealing that the vaccine was dangerous especially to children. This controversy has been suggested as
a factor in the country’s loss of confidence in vaccines and low immunization rates, resulting in an
infectious disease crisis in the country in 2019, including a measles outbreak.

Covid-19 vaccines were developed too quickly, so it can’t be trusted. Yes, it’s true that they were
developed very quickly, and it’s also true that these are new, innovative vaccines, especially the RNA
messenger vaccines. That said, the reason why these vaccines were pushed out fast for the masses is
because of the administrative phases of carrying out clinical trials which made it possible to accelerate
the recruitment of subjects for the vaccine.

Severe allergic reactions to immunizations and long-term vaccine adverse effects. Scientists have
taken into account all the possible setbacks when taking vaccines. As such we have different variations
of vaccines which still do the same thing, but with different active ingredients. If you are still unsure if
you have an allergy towards the vaccine you are taking, you can ask your doctor for an allergy test,
which will most likely come up negative due to how common ingredients in vaccines are.

You can still transmit the virus even if you are vaccinated. the Covid-19 vaccine actually reduces
the risk of transmission by about 60 to 80 percent. It isn’t 100 percent, but in terms of public health,
very substantially reducing the risk of transmission helps reduce the risk of the virus spreading.

The vaccine’s side effects are more dangerous than the disease. Vaccines, atleast in the US, go
through a robust approval process to ensure that all licensed vaccines are safe. Potential side effects
associated with vaccines are uncommon and much less severe than the diseases they prevent. This has
been proven to be an extremely rare case in vaccinations for Covid-19. The probability of it happening is
so low that health agencies believe that the benefit far outweighs the risk.

As long as you have a healthy lifestyle, your immune system can defend itself on its own and
doesn’t need a vaccine. Being physically and mentally healthy doesn’t actually provide you immunity
against the virus. Though there are cases of individuals miraculously recovering from diseases like cancer
and other illnesses, they are merely the exception and only a handful have only lived to tell the tale.
Being in good health still does allow you to resist the attacks of the virus for longer and more strongly
but unfortunately, that is all that can be achieved by having a healthy lifestyle before contacting the
virus.

Unfortunately, with how easily accessible information has become since the invention of the
internet, more and more misconceptions and misinformation has spread out which is what I think is
what’s leading some to doubt the capabilities of vaccines. Education is important, and it’s crucial in
discerning from what is true and what is false.
 In my opinion, vaccines should be mandatory in all countries nevertheless required. With all the
benefits vaccination gives, I can’t see why vaccines shouldn’t be required. It’s not a question of “why?”,
it’s a question of “why not!?”. The innovation of vaccines has been one of the most effective health
interventions the world could ask for. It has saved and prevented countless potential deaths and
transmission of many kinds of diseases all over the world. If you are still feeling wary about the current
situation about the pandemic and how it would affect you, you should definitely consider getting the
vaccine as it acts as another layer protection against the virus. Feel free to educate yourself with
credible and reliable information about vaccines and don’t be afraid to ask questions about the topic.
The more people know about vaccines, the better. We should be thankful for vaccines. Vaccination in
general isn’t required at all in the Philippines. But, it is mandatory if you want a long lasting life.

References

10 Reasons To Get Vaccinated. (2021, September 21). National Foundation for Infectious

Diseases. https://www.nfid.org/immunization/10-reasons-to-get-vaccinated/

Rouquette, P. (2021, July 8). True or false: Countering the claims of Covid-19 vaccine sceptics.

France 24. https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20210708-true-or-false-countering-the-

claims-of-covid-19-vaccine-sceptics

Vaccinate Your Family. (2021, September 29). Outbreaks of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases.

https://vaccinateyourfamily.org/questions-about-vaccines/outbreaks-of-vaccine-

preventable-diseases/

Wikipedia contributors. (2021, November 21). Dengvaxia controversy. Wikipedia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dengvaxia_controversy