Vaccines the issue at hand

Why vaccinating children should be mandatory?

What are vaccines?
• Vaccines are biological agents that elicit an immune response to a
specific antigen derived from an infectious disease-causing pathogen.
With the vaccine injection, our body detects the invading germs and
produces antibodies to fight them
Vaccines the issue at hand
• This is causal argument
• Claim: vaccinating children
should be mandatory for the
purpose of achieving herd
immunity, blocking the spread of
anti-vaccine beliefs and idea on
the internet, and because
vaccines are proved to be safe
and effective.
• Recently we’re witnessing a rise of an anti-
vaccination movement among parents and
care-givers who are refusing to vaccinate their
children. And by doing so they’re putting risk on
our global health.
• Measles outbreak in the 2019 after it has been
declared eliminated in the US in 2000. (WHO
article)
• Vaccine hesitancy threatens to reverse progress
made in tackling vaccine preventable diseases
(Novella, 2019).
Anti-vaccination affects the health of our community
and facilitate the spread of infectious diseases.

High vaccination rates-up to 95% in some cases are resurgence of vaccine-preventable diseases due to the
needed to achieve herd immunity (Kluger,2019). recent decline in vaccination rates (Kluger, 2019).
• Anti-vaccination severely affects the
community as a whole and not just a single
individual. For that reason, according to
Jeffrey Kluger (2019), editor at large at TIME
magazine, vaccination rates should remain
very high -up to 95% in certain cases to
achieve what is known as herd immunity and
prevent the spread of infectious diseases.
• For herd immunity to be established, a large
proportion of the population must be
immunized, which makes it harder for the
disease to spread to those who cannot be
vaccinated due to their weak immune system,
or any specific illness.
• Immunization is a successful and cost-
effective medical strategy. However, if the
rates of vaccination kept on decreasing, we
would expect to witness several disease
outbreaks soon, similar to the measles
outbreak that occurred in 2014 in Disneyland
and spread across seven states in the US and
Canada, as mentioned by Kluger (2019).
 Anti-vaccine beliefs and ideas spread swiftly
on the internet.

FRANCOIS VAN SCHALKWYK ARGUES HOW ANTI- FRANCOIS VAN SCHALKWYK  PEOPLE SEEK OUT ”THE ANTI-VACCINATION MOVEMENT: A REGRESSION
VAXXERS USE SOCIAL MEDIA TO AMPLIFY DOUBT AND INFORMATION SOURCES THAT THEY ALREADY AGREE IN MODERN MEDICINE”  ANTI-VACCINATION
FUEL HESISTANCY. AND FEEL COMFORTABLE WITH. AUTHORS USE NUMEROUS DISHONEST AND
DECEITFUL TACTICS TO FURTHER THEIR AGENDAS.
• Anti-vaccine ideas are spread randomly on Internet
• Anti-vaccine authors use dishonest techniques to fear people about
vaccination
• Anti-vaxxers use social media to spread doubt between parents
through incorrect information the people already agree on
Anti-vaccination scares
are not supported by
scientific evidence

• Recent rise in a number of

invalid and not medically
supported theories that link
vaccines to autism, bipolar
disorder, ADHD and other
disorders (Kluger, 2014).
• Vaccine side effects are
minor and most of them are
rare and can’t be linked
conclusively to vaccines
(Kluger, 2019).
• Anti-vaxxers claim that vaccines are somehow linked
to autism and other chronic diseases.
• Although the medical community has encountered
several similar invalid theories; they explained how
the signs of autism often start to develop at the
same age at which kids start receiving their shots,
according to Kluger (2014).
• Furthermore, the medical community officially
refutes any ties between vaccines and autism, with
confirming that vaccine side effects are only minor.
However, the spread of pseudo-scientific anti-
vaccine facts on the internet fuels doubt and
hesitancy in those worried parents’ minds.
Counter argument 1:

People who are anti-vaccine don’t

want unhealthier and poorer lives,
they do not trust their government
with their health.
Anti-vaxxers parents believe that
the government and the medical
community are keeping vaccine
dangers away from the public.
And that’s why these parents have
joined the anti-vaccine
community.
• Counter solution 1:
• There has been clear evidence refuting any
misinforming and the misleading perception of risk
related to the helpfulness of vaccines (Sax, J.K. &
Doran, N. J, 2018)
• Assuming that vaccination will lead towards
unhealthier and poorer lives would be going against
empirical demonstrations that the medical
community has offered the public about the safety
and efficacy of vaccines (Sax, J.K. & Doran, N. J,
2018).
• Despite all these invalid theories, there’s no denying
that vaccines are totally safe and effective in
preventing the spread of infectious diseases, and
saving millions of lives each year.
• Counter argument 2:
• By making vaccines mandatory we are violating people’s right in
making their own medical decisions.
• people who do not agree with vaccination often just want more
parental freedom and rights to be able to make decisions on their
children’s behalf since the community they belong too has
eliminated vaccine-preventable illnesses.
• Counter solution 2:
• Illnesses that are preventable by vaccines can become epidemic and
reach the population through those who are immune to vaccines and rely
on the community to keep them safe (World Health Organization, 2013).
• Those who can not be vaccinated either suffer from a deficit in their
immune system, or those who can not afford to be vaccinated.
 references
• Hussain, A., Ali, S., Ahmed, M., & Hussain, S. (2018, July 3). The anti-vaccination movement: a regression in
modern medicine. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6122668/.
• Joubert, M., & Schalkwyk, F. Van. (2019, October 18). Why anti-vaccine beliefs and ideas spread so fast on the
internet. Retrieved from
https://theconversation.com/why-anti-vaccine-beliefs-and-ideas-spread-so-fast-on-the-internet-111431.
• Kluger, J. (2014). Who’s afraid of a little vaccine? Time Magazine, 184(13), 40–43. Retrieved from
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=asn&AN=98516496&site=ehost-live
• Kluger, J. (2019). The vaccine battlegrounds. Time Magazine, 193(24), 38–43. Retrieved from
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=asn&AN=136963550&site=ehost-live
• Kluger, J., & Lautrup, J. (2019, February 15). Why vaccinations are safe. Time Magazine. Retrieved from
https://time.com/5530611/vaccines-safe-effective/
• Sax, J.K. & Doran, N. J Consum Policy (2019) 42: 47.
• Retrieved from https://doi-org.ezproxy.aub.edu.lb/10.1007/s10603-018-9398-8
• Sharp exchanges. (2019, Mar 30). The Economist, 430, 46-47.
• Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.aub.edu.lb/docview/2199832371?accountid=8555
• World Health Organization– vaccine hesitancy top health threat. (2019, January 23). Retrieved from
https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/who-vaccine-hesitancy-top-health-threat/
• World Health Organization - Six common misconceptions about immunization. (2013, February 19). Retrieved
from https://www.who.int/vaccine_safety/initiative/detection/immunization_misconceptions/en/
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_nyG2TUDcQ