Mandatory Vs. Voluntary Vaccincations - Essay Example

It is therefore important for those concerned to understand the pros and cons of both sides of the issue. There are always a number of factors to consider in both cases and these factors must be presented in the most authoritative and methodical manner for their decision making benefit. Perisic and Bauch (2009) have advocated the point of view of certain theorists when it comes to voluntary vaccination. It is their belief that “it should be difficult or impossible to eradicate a vaccine-preventable disease under voluntary vaccination: Herd immunity implies that the individual incentive to vaccinate disappears at high coverage levels.

“ Therefore they believe that mandatory vaccinations will not have any positive effect on the health of the individual child. Their theory, is based on historical accounts of the declining effectiveness of vaccines such as the MMR vaccine and whole-cell pertussis vaccine. Although there is some accuracy to their belief, Perisic and Bauch (2009) based their reports on studies that were conducted in a controlled environment for children such as small communities where their exposure to air borne illness and the like can be controlled and prevented.

However, there are also certain theorists who believe the opposite is also true. Meaning that on a large scale setting, leaving a child unprotected / non-vaccinated puts himself and the children around him at risk of infection and creates a network and sleeper carriers in the process. Once of the theorists who believe the opposite of Persic and Bauch is Sullivan (2010) who has tried to get healthcare workers across the country vaccinated against the most common viruses in order to protect the people around them and the people they care for.

It is the belief of Sullivan (2010) that this lack of mandatory vaccination has led to the creation of adult viruses carriers and allowing the mutation of viruses along the way which can easily infect both the young and old due to the exposure that the health care workers have on the job. Proponents of voluntary vaccinations claim that it is useless to get vaccinated because the government and our scientists continue to churn out imperfect vaccines this is according to Wu and Wang (2011). Considering that there have been instances wherein and individual's immune systems fails to absorb and fight off the controlled virus via vaccination, those who support mandatory vaccination believe that it is better to be vaccinated most of the time.

They base their argument on what they consider to be a fact. That the government would have put a stop to the vaccination development sector eons ago. The debate on whether to allow mandatory of voluntary vaccinations reminds me of the same debate raging on within the HIV community. Even though the public realizes how easily the HIV virus can be transmitted from the mother to the child in the womb, HIV positive women still refuse mandatory HIV testing during pregnancy (Armstrong, 2008). The mandatory versus voluntary HIV testing procedure during pregnancy is still a hotly debated issue in our modern times.

On the vaccination front, the major supporters of the voluntary vaccination issue, namely the concerned parents, add that their beliefs pertaining to