Controversy Surrounding Vaccination
Humans have benefited from immunization for more than two centuries. At face value, this is considered both as one of the greatest achievements of humankind and in public health. Despite the success story of vaccination, there is much controversy regarding the use and vaccine safety. This has led to the resurgence of vaccine hesitancy where more and more skeptic anti-vaxxers have decided against vaccinating either themselves or their children based on unfounded claims about vaccine safety (Smith, 2017). This has intensified tension throughout communities, particularly as immunization detractors began used to certain set assumptions on vaccines such as they are against Christian beliefs, and that giving children multiple vaccinations for a host of diseases can overload their immune systems.
Dear Anti-Vaxxers,
I am writing to you with much concern after it came to my realization that your uneducated decision against vaccines might be putting your children at a health risk. By sharing this information means that I care about you and your children. While I have attempted to dig deeper and hear both sides in the immunization fight, all I can find is scientific information that expresses support for vaccination and uneducated opinion that is grounded in unsubstantiated evidence. A clear majority of you base your decision against vaccination on misconceptions about vaccine safety. For example, there is widespread fear amongst you that immunization increases the risk of autism. This claim originated from a man whose hypothesis has since been completely discredited and his medical license revoked (Robinson, 2020). Some could find it hard to believe, so it might help to tell you that a well-designed scientific study provides evidence that children present with the symptoms of autism well before they get MMR vaccine to protect against the three viruses, including mumps, measles, and rubella.
Because of fear that you keep fanning conservative estimates ow show that measles that was eradicated a few decades ago has seen a rise in a new measles outbreak. As a consequence, this has led the World Health Organization (WHO) to raise a red flag that there might have been more cases of measles in 2019 than in any other year (Robinson, 2020).
It is mainly for his reason that I am writing to you today, to officially tell that accepting a parent’s decision not to vaccinate is something I have a hard time doing. Parents bear the responsibility for making the best decision for their children (Branswell et al.,2018). While they have the desecration to choose whether to have their children vaccinated despite heath experts’ objections, what about their rights to grow up without risk and fear of disease? What will you think as a parent when your daughter develops rubella during pregnancy and delivers a child with congenital deafness? What will your son think of your decision when he is rendered infertile and cannot get children due to orchitis that was caused by infection with mumps virus at childhood?
I am sure you will that because of vaccination, these conditions are lot less common nowadays. Smallpox has since been wholly eradicated while polio led the world to see frightening outcomes of vaccine-preventable disease, now only a few cases are reported in a few isolated pockets in less developed countries. Also, you may be surprised to hear that as of 2017, vaccine-derived polio led to a dramatic reduction in the prevalence of the disease, with only 22 reported cases (Branswell, 2017). At this point, efforts are underway to eliminate the disease. Thanks to the efforts aimed at prevention and management of the once fatal condition called bacterial meningitis. Today, advances in the development of three vaccines have paid off as there has been a dramatic reduction in the incidence of this deadly disease. There is a long list of conditions that have been eradicated by the vaccine, and this has saved millions of lives across the globe.
You may be interested to learn that among the number studies that have been conducted to determine the safety of vaccines. None has determined that multiple vaccines can overload an infant immune system (Fetter, 2017). For one thing, your child’s immune system is stronger than you think. According to the number of foreign substances that children get exposed to, health experts state that the small fraction of virus or bacteria contained in vaccines is not strong enough to cause any harm to your child. What can be harmful is taking away a child’s right to vaccination.
On this understanding, I am sure that you now realize as parents that you have the responsibility to make a decision that will lead to the vaccination of your children. It should naturally come to your realization that you are not making the decision for your child but for every child with whom your child comes into contact.
In making the vaccination choice as parents, you must first consider your children’s future. How will they reflect on the past and judge the decision that you made for them in the most vulnerable years? Through your research, you will realize there are many options to turn to for the facts about the vaccine. While still at it, please try to understand both sides of the vaccine debate. If you are going to judge both perspectives fairly, it is essential to ask yourself where you can as a parent turn for the scientifically proven facts about vaccine safety? One of the ways is to consult your trusted healthcare provider.
I am not going to belittle you, but relying on anecdotal evidence about the safety of vaccines is the same as making a decision not to act. As responsible citizens, you should be aware that you must use vaccines to minimize suffering and death from preventable diseases. The CDC recommends most of these vaccines.
On that note, how about challenging your biases? Did you call into question the sources of your information? To be clear, the health of your children depends on it. So, instead of endangering your communities and your children, the best approach is to make a well-informed decision and vaccinate your child. It is worth conducting background research as this is the only way you will place value on information provided by scientific proof, and guidance from health experts cannot be ignored.
I am sure if the display of religious zealotry continues, a disease like measles can shift and mutate into new strands. The discovery of these strands can be a massive blow to the already existing vaccine. For this reason alone, the consequences could be dire such that the new strains may put everyone out there at risk until another vaccine is developed. Both national and independent laboratories usually do testing, and standards stipulate that this must be maintained. Considering vaccine development is a long and complicated process, no one knows how long that could take.
In conclusion, thank you for taking the time to listen to views and beliefs expressed in this letter. It is hoped that it will make you start taking your child’s vaccine decision seriously. I assume you love your children more than anything in the world. I also believe that we can all agree that the fear of endangering someone you love is one of the few things that will make you anti-vaxxers change your outlook.
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