Yes

by John Traveler

Created on: March 24, 2008   Last Updated: January 11, 2010

Less than a hundred years ago, an estimated 50 to 100 million people on Earth died from a flu pandemic. In America, even up until the 1950’s, outbreaks of cholera, polio, measles, mumps, whooping cough, chickenpox, smallpox, typhoid, diphtheria, tuberculosis and others were a regular part of life; and death. Then something changed, vaccines against these dreadful diseases became available, and children got them, in most cases because their parents were all to familiar with the diseases vaccinations could prevent.   

Yes, there have been isolated cases of people catching the disease from the vaccine, but such instances are statistically insignificant when compared to the number of people who would have contracted the disease had they not been vaccinated. Furthermore, much safer dead or inactive, as opposed to live forms of vaccines are used now. The question here however, is not the effectiveness of vaccines to control disease, but the authority of the government to mandate them for children. Actually, contrary to what many people believe, there are no federal government mandates in the United States for children to be vaccinated, although most if not all states require children to show proof of vaccination before admittance into grammar school.

Today in the United States, and for that matter most countries in the western world, infant mortality is not an issue although there are still conditions such as sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) that result in infant deaths. The simple reason 99.4 percent of American children survive to adulthood today, is the vaccinations they receive in the first year of life. Ironically, in 2009 the United States was ranked 46th in the world in infant mortality, while in countries like Iceland, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, Japan and others with socialized medicine and mandated infant vaccination programs, the infant mortality rate was half that in America.
 
In order to be most effective, inoculation with the vaccinations we are talking about here, needs to be administered in the early years of life. The problem is, in the United States, an infant child has no rights. They are dependent on the advocacy of their parents to know best, and to do best for them. Certainly, parents should have the strongest voice in deciding what is best for their children, but in this respect parents can also be the weakest link, and a detriment to a child's health and well being. Today, it is all to common to see drug addicted mothers and abusive fathers who’s ability to give their children the kind of care they deserve is at best questionable. All to often, and in many cases far to late, the government and society must step in in such cases to become a child's advocate and dare we say, protect them against their own parents. A whole lot more American children will be damaged physically or mentally, or even die a premature death today, because of parental abuse or neglect, than from any vaccinations they receive before age 6.          

We can’t solve every problem children might face during their formative years, although we shouldn’t give up on the proposition either. Today, through vaccination we can at least assure, in the case of many childhood diseases that killed children of bygone eras,  that American children will have the opportunity to survive childhood and live a healthy life. Should this be no less than one of those inalienable human rights we so cherish? Shouldn’t every child have the right to be vaccinated and that right guaranteed through governmental mandate of a specific set of safe and effective vaccines?

For 2009, the Center for Disease Control(CDC) reported that 95% of American children entering kindergarten received the basic vaccine protocol by the time they started school. This is good, but what about the other five percent? There are three predominant reasons these one in twenty children failed to receive benefit of vaccination, all of these reason have to do with their parents. Some of these children had parents who denied them the vaccination on religious or other ideological grounds, others because they don’t believe the vaccines are safe, and finally, some parents just don’t care or couldn’t be bothered to get their children vaccinated. None of these children were denied the vaccinations because their parents couldn’t afford them. Every state has social well fair programs that provide the shots for free. What every state does not do however, is afford these children the right to receive the vaccinations irregardless of their parents status of belief or personal convenience.  

This is not a question of ideological belief or political persuasion, nor should it be. This is a question of the most basic human right to life liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The inoculation that is needed to protect this nations children against ideologies, political extremism and just simple parental neglect, is no less than a federal mandate that all children must be vaccinated. This is their right, and no person, not even the child's parents, should be allowed to deprive them of it. We may debate what vaccines are appropriate under mandate, but those which have been proven safe and effective in combating the myriad of diseases summarized in the first paragraph of this article should be a bear minimum requirement for all children in America.

As one who remembers classmates in the 50’s who hobbled around with crutches and iron leg braces, the result of polio; as one who lost classmates  and friends in the 60’s who died from other diseases which today are non existent because vaccines have been developed which prevent their onset; because this American believes in the inalienable rights of every other American, including the right to be vaccinated, the answer to this debate question must be yes.

I’m obviously not a kid any more, but never had the measles nor was vaccinated against them when I was, as no vaccine then existed. A few weeks ago I was injected with a vaccination against Shingles, at the urging of my VA doctor. Several years back, I saw my dad horrendously suffer from this latent form of measles and I’m happy to know I will never have to deal with that. But when I hear of resurgent outbreaks of measles and the other dreadful childhood diseases, because parents are precluding their children from being vaccinated against them, I am disheartened that their government as well has let them down by not mandating the vaccines for them in the first place, as is the case now in so many other countries.

Today there is no federal government mandate in the U.S. for vaccination of children against devastating childhood diseases. The better question might be, why not?

Learn more about this author, John Traveler.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.