Should immunizations be mandatory?
In early colonial America, the smallpox virus spread quickly among growing populations, killing as many as half of those who caught it. When one of the earliest forms of immunization, called “inoculation”, was introduced in the West, colonizers fought over whether it was safe. Their fear was reasonable. In the 1700s, inoculation was less safe than modern-day vaccination. Even back then statistics showed that immunizing communities helped reduce the number of deaths. Reflecting back on history, it’s easy to see that the battle over whether to enforce vaccination is not new. Although certain groups in society may have objections to vaccinations, requiring parents to vaccinate their children is in the best interest of the lives of the American civic society because vaccines are safe, economic benefits would accrue to society, and they save the lives of many people both in present and future generations.
Vaccine-preventable diseases have not disappeared so vaccination is still necessary. Recently, there has been a measles outbreak throughout the U.S. because many parents have decided to stop vaccinating children.
