Final Essay- Vaccination should be mandatory PDF

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1 VACCINATION SHOULD BE MANDATORY Phuong Dong Dao Professor David Maslane ENGL 1302 December 5, 2021 Vaccination Should Be Mandatory. Among the 675,000 people in the U.S. who died from the Spanish influenza pandemic 102 years ago, Shannon’s grandmother lost her parents and brothers. In October 1918, she also lost her first husband and daughter on the same day, witnessed them buried in the same coffin. Shannon’s story shows that many pandemics in history have doomed whole civilizations by killing millions of people. Thanks to the development of medicine, viruses have less become a fear in people’s mind. Apparently, vaccines, also known as “the virus killer”, have contributed to this evolution. Eve Dubé, Caroline Laberge and the others, in their research article “Vaccine hesitation” (2013), argues that vaccination is one of the greatest achievements of public health. Although the authors point out the potential risks of vaccination and provide statistics regarding the causes of apparent increase in vaccination hesitancy, they believe that vaccination programs have significant contribution to the decline in mortality and morbidity of various infectious diseases. As a result, the government have established regulations in regard to mandatory vaccination. Since then, many protestors have criticized such policies and argued whether vaccine mandate in general was against human rights and personal freedom. This debate continues to become more controversial due to the rise of human right activists and anti-vaxxers in contemporary society. Hence, the main question is whether vaccination should be mandatory or the government should

2 VACCINATION SHOULD BE MANDATORY respect ‘my body, my choice’ ideology. In facts, the government should impose vaccine mandate. Many people might disagree with this but there are four main sound reasons why mandatory vaccination far outweigh its drawbacks. Such reason include prevention is better than cure; preserving public health; helping people avoid relevant legal disputes; protecting vulnerable entities who can’t make decisions on their own; and more efficiency compared to alternatives. The first reason why vaccination should be mandatory is because an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. In other words, vaccination can prevent or mitigate various diseases that have a tremendous impact on people’s lives. For example, skin cancer often occurs at people’s earliest ages and have visible sign of cancer like a large brownish spot or a mole that changes in color and size. As a result, it is important to inject vaccines into children in order to mitigate the risk of cancer development. Kyle McAlliser-Grum in his article suggests that there are melaninfocused vaccines developed and available for early-diagnosed patients. He illustrates that a person does not need to suffer an extreme pain after the cure with surgery if they got vaccinated. Skin cancer can also occur due to the overuse of tanning salons according to Kyle. Therefore, people who were born healthy might get cancer at the elder ages and a preventative approach like vaccination should be taken into account. Another example of a disease that could be cured with vaccination is influenza. In facts, there are mandatory influenza vaccination policies for health-care personnel in America (Alexandra and the others, 2013). It is undeniable that the COVID-19 pandemic caused severe harms to our society and economy. It would be ineffective if infected people keep taking antiviral pills and being quarantined because these methods only deal with the virus temporarily and do not prevent future reinfection. In this case, vaccination plays an important role that it enhances people’s immunity. World Health Organization (WHO) states: “Vaccines contain weakened or inactive

3 VACCINATION SHOULD BE MANDATORY parts of a particular organism (antigen) that triggers an immune response within the body… so that the body will produce the antigen… it will prompt their immune system to respond much as it would have on its first reaction to the actual pathogen.” A final example of is measles. It is important to stress that there is no specific treatment of such diseases. Therefore, proactive methods, which include vaccination, are the only solution for such dilemma. Secondly, vaccines should be mandatory due to the facts that public health needs to be safeguarded. It can’t be denied that many people still believe that vaccine mandate is against the U.S. constitution and human rights. However, in the precedent case Jacobson v Massachusetts, the Court held that “…the liberty secured by the Constitution of the United States does not import an absolute right in each person to be at all times, and in all circumstances, wholly freed from restraint, nor is it an element in such liberty that one person, or a minority of persons residing in any community and enjoying the benefits of its local government, should have power to dominate the majority when supported in their action by the authority of the State.” In other word, the law disregard individuals’ freedom that harm the interests of the public and the community as a whole. The U.S. Constitution’s 10 Amendment also grants the government authority to take public th

health emergency actions. As a result, there are various regulations that address the vaccine mandate problem to safeguard public health. For example, mandatory influenza vaccination is appropriate for a heal care work environment (Looper, George and the other, 2017). It is reasonable that the laws of mandatory vaccination should be imposed upon workers as they are the labor force of the country and they should be protected from diseases regardless whether they agree to get injected or not. Furthermore, in a workplace, not only workers themselves are there

4 VACCINATION SHOULD BE MANDATORY but also their colleagues. Vaccination is a relevant step to protect their working community’s health as a whole. The third reason why mandatory vaccination is needed is because this can help people avoid complex legal issues which arises from such dilemmas. One legal issue should be taken into account is that the legal system allows people to take action against others if they are physically harmed. In particular, a failure to take necessary steps to avoid spreading diseases can lead to a civil claim as people should seek compensation for the damages caused by others’ negligence. In facts, there are various precedent cases relevant to this matter and one among them is Endres v. Endres (2007) where the husband is sued by the wife due to his negligent transmission of a sexually transmitted disease. On the other hand, such failure can also result a criminal prosecution if the case is serious. Griffith and Tengnah in their research article “Public health 2: Criminal liability for spreading disease,” (2005) argues: “Where a person with an infectious disease does infect another with the disease then it may be possible to hold the person to account through a charge of grievous bodily harm…” They also state that: “A person with an infectious disease fails to act responsibly m preventing the control of that disease, then they may face prosecution.” For example, in R v Vantandillo (1815), the court declared that a woman had committed a criminal offence for carrying her smallpox-infected child through the street. Another precedent case would be R v Feston Konzami (2005). In this case, there was a successful convictions for reckless transmission due to the facts that the defendant have the knowledge about the STD infection but turned a blind eye. Also, causing someone to fear that they are having transmissible to them the virus is against the law. In New South Wales, Australia, the lawmakers have introduced fines up to $5000 for

5 VACCINATION SHOULD BE MANDATORY spitting or coughing on frontline workers. If those acts are intentional on police officers, the sentence could be up to six months in jail. The fourth reason why the government should impose mandatory vaccination is because it protects the vulnerable entities who can’t make the decision to take vaccines on their own. For example, underage children cannot get themselves vaccinated without their parents’ permission. In such case, they would be exposed to the dangers of diseases if the parents are anti-vaxxers. In facts, there have been millions of children killed by transmissible diseases due to the insufficient access to vaccination in underdeveloped countries according to UNICEF. It is the harsh reality that many people nowadays still believe that vaccines can causes developmental disabilities and other medical conditions so that they find ways to avoid vaccinating their children. They argue that they should has the absolute parental rights to make health care decision for the kids. Therefore, the government has introduced legislations that address the circumstances of child neglect. In reality, the Law sets out compulsory vaccine schedules for the hepatitis B and haemophilus viruses. Since the 19 century, some states have passed regulations that require th

children to take the smallpox vaccine. Another example of such entities would be domestic pets. Animals can get various diseases that are transmissible to humans and a mandatory vaccination is important to prevent them from spreading viruses, especially when the owners are unaware of the diseases. There are certain number of vaccines available for animals, for example, rabies and distemper vaccines. A single vaccine injection carried out each year on all dogs should be sufficient to ensure adequate immunization of dogs (Darkaoui and the others, 2016).

6 VACCINATION SHOULD BE MANDATORY Finally, vaccine should be a mandate because it is more efficient than the alternatives. The CDC measures that: “For every $1 spent on childhood vaccinations, our country saves $10.90. The vaccination of children born between 1994 and 2018 has saved the U.S. nearly $406 billion in direct medical costs and $1.88 trillion in total society costs.” Without a doubt, medical treatment fees are always higher than the price of a shot of vaccine. In underdeveloped countries, where health care system is not adequate, the cost of curing diseases is almost unaffordable to the majority of people. In this circumstance, the vaccines are much cheaper and sometimes free in form of international aids. In addition, some other approaches to deal with transmissible diseases also causes severe impacts on social and economic institutions. For example, quarantines often result in an economic loss on a large scale as business activities are shut down. They also cause inconveniences in education due to the facts that the schools and universities have to close and conduct online learning. Furthermore, quarantines can cause emotional drain to people if they last for a lengthy time. In such situation, quarantines might trigger financial distress, social anxiety and sadness. On the other hand, alternatives do not only have more monetary costs than vaccination but also have more costs in other forms. One would be privacy cost. At the first stage of COVID-19 outbreak, the virus was new to the knowledge of scientists and there was no vaccine at all. As a result, the government adopted a robust tracking system to control the chaotic situation. In particular, the use of such system is to trace, track and geo-tag the suspected affectees so that other people can access the information to keep themselves from danger zones. These apps and biometrics have provided powerful tools to fight against the pandemic; however, people have to sacrifice their personal privacy and confidential information as a trade-off. The affectees might

7 VACCINATION SHOULD BE MANDATORY face the risk that their data might be pirated and used for wrongful purposes. In addition, some alternatives seem to be a temporary and adaptive action. For example, wearing masks and protective clothing would not finish the pandemic. Instead, it was just the short-term solution to deal with the viruses. There is no doubt that it decreases the risks of virus transmission; however, it would be absurd if people have to keep wearing those things for the rest of their lives. In conclusion, vaccination should be mandatory for four reasons. The first reason is that it’s always effective to take early actions before the problem because vaccines have incredible traits that reduces the risk of severe impacts of dangerous diseases on people’s lives. For example, skin cancer should be treated with vaccines early and even when there is no sign of it. Otherwise, the patients will have to suffer from surgical pain. The second reason is because it preserves public health and provide safety to working environment. The third reason is that vaccines mandate prevents legal dilemmas. These legal issues could be a claim of grievous bodily harm and that could result either civil compensations or criminal sentences. There are precedent cases regarding to such matter, for example, Vantandillo’s case. The fourth reason is that mandatory vaccines regulations can protect children and pets from their caretakers, who might be opponents of vaccination or have little knowledge to it. The final reason is that vaccination is more efficient than many alternatives. For example, statistics show that vaccines are less costly than other medical treatments and do not cause heavy impacts on society like quarantine does. Also, vaccination, unlike tracking systems, does not infringe everyone’s privacy. Despite there are points of view that vaccination mandate is harsh and infringing fundamental rights, these four reasons should outweigh the reasons why mandatory vaccination should be revoked.

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References List Darkaoui, S., Fihri, O., Schereffer, J., Aboulfidaa, N., Wasniewski, M., Zouine, L., Bouslikhane, M., & Cliquet, F. (2016). Immunogenicity and efficacy of Rabivac vaccine for animal rabies control in Morocco. CLINICAL EXPERIMENTAL VACCINE RESEARCH, 2287, 60-69. Griffith, R., & Tengnah, C. 2005. Public health 2: Criminal liability for spreading disease. British Journal of Community Nursing, 10(10), 475-478. Dubé, E., Laberge, C., Guay, M., Bramadat, P., Roy, R., & Bettinger, J. (2013). Vaccine hesitancy. Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics, 9(8). 1763–1773.

Ramirez, K. (2019). Protect Our Children: Vaccination Exemptions Can Establish Child Abuse and Neglect. Family Court Review, 57(2), 258–272. https://doiorg.lscsproxy2.lonestar.edu/10.1111/fcre.12412

Stewart, A. M., Caplan, A., Cox, M. A., Chang, K. H. M., & Miller, J. E. (2013). Mandatory Vaccination of Health-Care Personnel: Good Policy, Law, and Outcomes. Jurimetrics: The Journal of Law, Science & Technology, 53(3), 341–359.

Schwartz, J. (2013). Evidence and Ethics in Mandatory Vaccination Policies. American Journal of Bioethics, 13(9), 46–48. https://doiorg.lscsproxy2.lonestar.edu/10.1080/15265161.2013.815023

9 VACCINATION SHOULD BE MANDATORY Looper, P., George, D., Johnson, E. J., & Conway, S. E. (2017). Student and faculty perceptions about mandatory influenza vaccinations on a health sciences campus. Journal of American College Health, 65(7), 513–517. https://doiorg.lscsproxy2.lonestar.edu/10.1080/07448481.2017.1341899

McAllister-Grum, K. (2017). Pigments and Vaccines: Evaluating the Constitutionality of Targeting Melanin Groups for Mandatory Vaccination. Journal of Legal Medicine, 37(1/2), 217– 247. https://doi-org.lscsproxy2.lonestar.edu/10.1080/01947648.2017.1303288...