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Kelly Burget
Tamara Webb
English 1010
11/10/15
The Vaccinations Debate
Its amazing how people grow up, get married, and have kids of their own. When you
have kids, there are so many important decisions you have to make and you dont have very
much time to make them. One of the major decisions new parents have to make for their new
children, other than a name, is if they should vaccinate the children or not. This has been a going
on debate for years with people taking one side strongly against and one side strongly for it. This
major debate can be a huge strain on new parents trying to decide what is best for their children.
Now that I am older and have my own children, I have wondered if the choice to vaccinate was a
good idea. After doing lots of my own research, I finally have an answer and I no longer have to
wonder about the choice I made. Now, I would like to share my findings and the debate with
other first time parents who may be struggling with this major decision. The question I
specifically had in mind when doing my research is, should parents be allowed to refuse
vaccinations for their children?
Vaccinations are still a hot topic going on right now. Last December in Disneyland, there
was a measles outbreak that affected 147 people in the U.S (NBC News). NBC News states
Not only that, the outbreak also spread to a few other states, including Mexico and Canada. It is
believed that the outbreak started from a person from overseas, who was visiting Disney land
was infected with measles and other guests who were not vaccinated caught the disease.
Luckily, no one died from this outbreak. With this recent outbreak, the debate over vaccinations

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has become bigger, and more involved into social media. With all these outbreaks and health
risks, why would people still choose not to vaccinate their children? I have wondered this very
thing while conducting my research. Although I could not find any medical journal supporting
the non-vaccinations side of the debate, I did find the main reasons parents may choose not to
vaccinate.
The biggest reason parents choose not to vaccinate their children is because of the
theory that vaccinations can cause autism. The original study was conducted by a doctor named
Andrew Wakefield. Wakefield believed that there was a link to autism from the combination of
mercury and thermal in vaccinations. His theory was the mix of the two made a dangerous level
of mercury in vaccinations that caused harm to young children, which developed into autism.
Wakefield had conducted an experiment involving seven young children to try and prove his
theory. While this study was happening, the American Academy of Pediatrics issued a warning
for parents that measles, mumps, and rubella might cause autism in children. This theory then
spread on social media websites when celebrity Jenny McCarthy posted a status blaming
vaccinations for the cause of her sons autism. After she posted that, the public made the status
go viral and caused widespread panic for parents. Although the evidence seemed convincing,
scientists conducted seven more studies and issued a removal of thimerosal in the vaccinations.
The results from the seven other studies found that there was actually no connection to autism
and vaccinations, even with the combination of thimerosal and mercury. Pediatricians did have
thimerosal removed from vaccinations to protect children and yet the rate of autism had never
changed.
The risk of autism is not the only reason parents choose not to vaccinate. Claire
McCarthy is a pediatrician at a Boston Childrens Hospital. She wrote an article called The Top

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Seven Reasons Parents Tell Me They Dont Want To Vaccinate She states When I read about
the resurgence of vaccine-preventable diseases like measles, polio or pertussis, I worry -- and
wish that there wasn't so much fear about vaccines. In her article, McCarthy claims that she
supports family decisions about vaccinations, but at the same time she explains how vaccinations
are safe and recommended. The top seven reasons that she listed why parents refuse vaccinations
are Illnesses are rare, illnesses are not that bad, vaccines cause autism, preservatives are
dangerous, it is a conspiracy, and finally, they trust friend and family more than the doctor. On
one hand these parents have valid concerns, but these worried parents have no solid evidence to
support these claims.
Those seven reasons are not the only reasons some parents are against vaccinations.
Some parents feel that the ingredients are not safe for children or even humans at all. The main
ingredients in vaccinations are aluminum, antibiotics, egg protein, formaldehyde, monosodium
glutamate, and thimerosal. When most parents see that list of ingredients, they get nervous
because those are a lot of scary sounding chemicals to put into a childs body. Especially when
pediatricians suggest vaccinating children before they are even one year of age. Even though
those are weird ingredients, it is proved that they are not harmful in anyway, and will help
protect children from once deadly diseases like polio and measles.
The final major reason that parents may choose to not vaccinate children are religious
reasons. Back in older times, religions were opposed to vaccinations because they were seen as
unnatural and more of a trick by the devil to infect people and make them evil. In modern
times, most religions encourage parents to vaccinate their children because they now know that
vaccinations protect children and can expand life time. With life now expanded, it gives religious
people more time to spread their religions and do what their God wants in their lifetime. There

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may be some religions that are still against vaccinations, but from my findings, the majority of
religions are open to vaccinations.
In order to prevent outbreaks, 90% of the population needs to be vaccinated. Because of
more and more parents have decided against vaccinations, we are now suffering from outbreaks
and the spreading of once dead diseases. Some parents may feel that vaccinations are
unnecessary because those diseases are gone, but that is not the case. They may be pretty much
gone here in the United States, but in other countries those diseases are very much alive.
Outbreaks start by those infected people coming to the United States and soon those that are
infected spread that disease to adults and children that are unvaccinated. In order to protect the
general public, we need to get at least 90% of the population vaccinated or suffer the
consequences.
According to ProCon.org the biggest benefits of getting vaccinations are, They save
childrens lives, ingredients are in safe amounts, medical organizations state that vaccines are
safe, adverse reactions to vaccines are rare, vaccines protect the herd, saves time and money,
protects future generations, vaccines have ended horrible diseases like polio, vaccination is still
necessary, economic benefits for society. Not only do vaccinations protect your family, they
protect everyone. American Academy of Pediatrics states that "most childhood vaccines are
90%-99% effective in preventing disease. Vaccinations are safe, effective, and can change your
life for the better or for the worse.
It does not take much to kill a young infant. They are too little to be vaccinated and any
diseases they catch are much worse than if an older child or adult caught that same disease. As
parents and a society, it is our job to protect children and young infants. By choosing not to

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vaccinate our older children, we are putting those young infants at risk. According to Shot@Life,
a United Nations Foundation partner organization, vaccines save 2.5 million children from
preventable diseases every year [44], which equates to roughly 285 children saved every hour.
Just by choosing to vaccinate, we save so many lives. Furthermore, with the measles vaccine
alone, The measles vaccine has decreased childhood deaths from measles by 74%. As stated by
the Center for Disease Control.
In discussions of vaccinations, one controversial issue has been the ingredients of what is
in the actual vaccination. On one hand, those against vaccinations argue that the ingredients like
thimerosal and mercury are unsafe. Those that are pro vaccinations argue that even with the odd
sounding ingredients they are completely safe and have been approved by disease control for a
reason. It is true that the ingredients like thimerosal, aluminum, and formaldehyde can be
harmful when in large amounts. The Center of Disease control reminds us that there are no
harmful amounts in vaccinations. Interestingly, there are higher amounts of aluminum in breast
milk and formula then there are in vaccinations. I do not think parents realize that there is also
more bacteria, toxins, and other harmful chemicals that children are exposed to on a daily basis
that what is in vaccinations. Humans were made to be durable and to be exposed to harsh
environments and bacteria. Vaccinations were created to protect people from harsh and deadly
diseases that caused millions to suffer and many deaths. In order to protect people from these
diseases, vaccines require the strange ingredients in order to promote the best of protection.
Reactions to vaccinations are very rare, but they are a real possibility. According to
Sanjay Gupta, Chief Medical Correspondent for CNN and practicing neurosurgeon, "you are 100
times more likely to be struck by lightning than to have a serious allergic reaction to the vaccine
that protects you against measles." The possibility is so slim; there is no real need to worry about

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having a reaction to the vaccine. Parents showed a real concern that their children would have a
bad reaction when receiving vaccinations. Parents who are against vaccinations generally think
that the combination of thimerosal and mercury not only cause autism, but the combination can
cause neurological harm. Although these are valid concerns, I think that these parents are
overlooking the fact that there are not enough quantities of both mercury and thimerosal in each
vaccine that could cause any harm. Ellen Clayton, MD, JD, Professor of Pediatrics and Law at
Vanderbilt Law School states Combination vaccines, like MMR (measles, mumps, and
rubella), have been used without adverse effects since the mid-1940s.[60] The worst side effect
that is common, your child could experience from receiving vaccinations according to
pediatricians is a small fever and moodiness.
In conclusion, I now have an accurate answer to my original question. So should parents
be required to vaccinate their children? To that, I say yes. Of course, many will probably disagree
with this assertion that, in my opinion, vaccinations should be required, but the pros of requiring
vaccinations outweigh the negative. In the long run, vaccinations are safe, they save lives;
vaccinations prevent old diseases that are still around, they are necessary, they are the right
choice. On one hand, those who are against vaccinations have good reasons to, but on the other
hand the worries that they provide do not have any solid facts that help support those worries. It
is actually state law that children have to be vaccinated before they can enter into public schools.
While some parents believe that is unfair, I believe it is smart and necessary in order to protect
our children from harmful diseases. Vaccinations are around for a reason. If we no longer had to
worry about deadly and preventable diseases, doctors would not strongly recommend
vaccinations.

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Works Cited

"Measles Outbreak Traced to Disneyland Is Declared Over." NBC News. NBC News, 17
Apr. 2015. Web. 08 Dec. 2015.
McCarthy, M.D. Claire. "The Top 7 Reasons Parents Tell Me They Don't Want to
Vaccinate." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 04 June 2014. Web. 09 Dec. 2015.
Heyworth, Kelley King.Vaccines: The Reality Behind the Debate." Parents Magazine.
N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2015
Vaccines ProCon.org." ProConorg Headlines. N.p., 9 Oct. 2015. Web. 19 Nov. 2015
Funding The Costs Of Disease Outbreaks Caused By Non-Vaccination." Journal Of Law,
Medicine & Ethics 43.3 (2015): 633-647 15p. CINAHL Complete. Web. 15 Nov. 2015.
Religion's Hepatitis B Shot: The Arkansas General Assembly Established An Overly
Broad Religious Exemption To Mandatory Immunization After The District Court Invalidated
The Original Religious Exemption-Mccarthy V. Ozark School District." Creighton Law Review
42.4 (2009): 777-836. Academic Search Premier. Web. 16 Nov. 2015.
Shea, Kimberly. "POV: It's Time to Take the Controversy Out of Vaccination | BU Today |
Boston University." BU Today RSS. N.p., 13 Feb. 2015. Web. 19 Nov. 2015.
Shelton, Rachel, et al. "HPV Vaccine Decision-Making And Acceptance: Does Religion
Play A Role?." Journal Of Religion & Health 52.4 (2013): 1120-1130. Academic Search Premier.
Web. 15 Nov. 2015.

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"Five Important Reasons to Vaccinate Your Child." Five Important Reasons to Vaccinate
Your Child. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2015.