Mandatory Vaccinations

Witnessing the death of a person is a sad occasion, but it is more painful knowing that their death could have been prevented by a simple vaccination. Too many children die every year from inhaling bacteria which infect areas of their small bodies or by contracting other diseases such as the non-living infections which attack their immune systems. Adults, typically, have a stronger immune system compared to children due to their age. Because kids have not had as much time to develop immunities to diseases, vaccinations should be mandatory to assist them in fighting off these killer diseases. Mandatory vaccinations are justified because they protect society and prevent future epidemics. Parents and guardians, who believe that vaccines should not be mandatory, contend that vaccines cause health problems or they are no longer necessary. Children get their main vaccines between the ages of two months to twelve months old. Children at this age are already at a high risk for developing high fevers, seizures, and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Therefore, there is no way of truly determining if any adverse effect on the child was coincidental or actually caused by the inoculation itself. Since 1990, thirty thousand cases have been reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) where the patient had an adverse reaction to the vaccine. Out of the thirty thousand cases three thousand nine hundred were reported as life threatening. That is a small percentage when compared to the 10.5 million illnesses that the same vaccines have prevented. (Zhou, 2003) Because polio is not carried in the USA, there are those who feel that not only should the vaccine not be mandatory, it is completely unnecessary. Opponents to mandatory vaccinations have forgotten one important truth. Thousands of innocent children have lost their lives due to diseases such as smallpox and polio, which could have easily been prevented through the use of vaccines. In reality, it is