Vaccines are one of the may miracles of modern medicine. With vaccines we’re able to prevent diseases that kill millions of people. It’s truly incredible. However, despite the advancements of modern medicine, and the proven effectiveness of these vaccines, there are still people who choose not to vaccinate their children.
It’s absolutely infuriating to watch innocent children die due to diseases that are preventable all because of parents who feed into conspiracy theories about dangers of vaccines — even though, time and time again, these theories have been proven wrong.
Choosing not to vaccinate your children is selfish. I understand religious justifications, but otherwise, there is absolutely no reason to object to having your children vaccinated. It protects lives.
According to The World Health Organization, it is estimated that since 2000, the measles vaccine has saved an estimated 17.1 million lives.
Additionally, there’s been a sharp drop in so many other disease as well. The National Academy of Science released a table of ten diseases eligible for vaccination. For all of the diseases displayed, the table indicated the immense decrease for each. Smallpox, for instance, went from 29,005 cases in the 20th century to zero cases in 2016.
One of the most common excuses parents give in an effort to defend their choice of not vaccinating their children is that vaccines cause autism or other diseases. This is insane because there is no medical proof of any such claims.
The CDC addresses this argument by suggesting that refusing to vaccinate children is unethical.
Though there is the slight chance that somebody may get sick after the vaccine, it is a small chance, that does not outweigh the massive risk of not being vaccinated altogether.
When the swine flu pandemic hit in 2009, my mother drove me and sisters to a drive through clinic to get us vaccinated. Later that week, I ended up coming down with the swine flu.
It was awful.
I did, however, learn from my doctor that I had not gotten the sickness from the vaccine but probably from another kid because the vaccine took a little while to work to its full potential. The vaccine did help to lessen my symptoms and aid my immune system in fighting it off quicker. Instead of being bedridden for maybe two or three weeks like other kids, I was able to be back bouncing around the playground in just a week.
The CDC also makes a great point, that I think is worth sharing:
“You wear a seat belt in the unlikely event that you may get in a serious car accident, it’s the same idea with vaccines. You vaccinate your children just in case they get exposed to one of these diseases.”
