Reference no: EM133425997
When students start school, they must prove that they have been vaccinated against diseases such as chickenpox, polio, and measles, which can spread quickly through an unprotected group. Students with compromised immune systems may be exempted from the requirement, as the immunizations might be dangerous to them. In many states, parents also can get exemptions based on their personal beliefs.
California Senate bill 277, passed in 2015, eliminated exemptions for personal beliefs. The law was prompted by measles outbreak that started at Disneyland in 2014 and infected more than 150 people. That outbreak was likely exacerbated by low vaccination rates.
California's law sought to remove personal belief exemptions to increase vaccination rates and herd immunity, a form of indirect protection that occurs when a large percentage of population has become immune to a disease. Herd immunity helps protect people who, for medical reasons, cannot be vaccinated and are vulnerable to infections. It seems to have worked. The percentage of California's kindergarteners with all the required vaccinations as of the previous fall rose from 93% in 2014 to 96% in 2016 (Lin 2017).
You may have noticed that vaccination mandates are not universally popular. This is not new. McNamara (202)1 notes that the Anti-Vaccination Society of America was established in 1879. Its effort to repeat repeal smallpox vaccination mandates used language that might sound familiar today: "Liberty cannot be given, it must be taken"
Discussion Questions
- Are people who rely solely on herd immunity free riders? Why or why not?
- What are the scientifically verified potential harms of vaccines?
- What are the possible health outcomes of COVID-19 chicken pox polio and measles?
- What are the external effects of these diseases?
- Has vaccination rates risen of falling in the United States? (Provide evidence, data)
- Would too few people be vaccinated if it were not mandatory? (Provide evidence)
- Are vaccination rates lower in states with personal belief exemptions?
- What steps do governments take to increase vaccination rates
- What steps do private companies take to increase vaccination rates. Why?
- Was there resistance to vaccines before the COVID-19 pandemic?