Though vaccines seem to be a normal part of life for many Americans, vaccination is frequently demonized in the media. Part of this can be attributed to the presence of so-called “anti-vaxxers” on social media sites like Facebook. The fear-mongering tactics of vaccine opponents, who are a population minority but are extremely vocal about their views, have instilled distrust of vaccines in many new or prospective parents in the nation. Anti-vaxxer celebrities only propagate this fear—Jenny McCarthy, for instance, has been lobbying against vaccines for years because she believes they caused her son’s autism. However, the benefits of vaccines far outweigh their risks, and education about these benefits needs to become more commonplace in order to combat the growing fight against vaccination.

The most simple way to explain the benefits of vaccines is through an allegory: bug spray.

On an individual level, when one person applies bug spray to themselves, given that the spray is effective, they will remain unbitten by insects. The bug spray protects the person from contact with the bugs and helps avoid any side effects that can come with the bites.

Now, say that you have a friend who is allergic to bug bites—so allergic, in fact, that if she is bitten by an insect she has to go to the hospital. On top of this, though, she can’t use bug spray on herself because she has a skin condition that flares up because of the chemicals in the liquid repellent. Your friend is extremely vulnerable to the insects—not only can she not protect herself from them, but she also has an intense reaction to their bites. However, all of her bug problems can be avoided if everyone near her uses bug spray on themselves. The scent from the spray on other people will repel the bugs in the area, which saves your friend from any bug-related risks, and she doesn’t need to use the spray on herself, which saves her from any skin flare-ups. Naturally, you would want everybody in your community to use bug spray so that your friend can be protected.

The same applies to vaccines. Vaccination defends the individual from disease, and has consistently been proven to do so. In fact, the World Health Organization (WHO) reports that most childhood vaccines are effective for 85% to 95% of people. In terms of community protection, the scenario presented in the above paragraph, community-wide immunization is especially important for those who cannot be vaccinated, such as those who are very young, very old, or immunodeficient, similar to your friend in the above situation. People in these populations are in dire need of protection from vaccine-preventable diseases because their immune systems are unable to effectively combat diseases, increasing their risk of complications. Such people depend on those around them to maintain a level of herd immunity (most of a population being vaccinated against a disease) so that they can gain de facto protection because the disease is unable to spread easily. The benefit of vaccines for people who have not received immunization is supported by research. A 2009 paper by epidemiologist Dr. Mary E. Ramsay found that administration of a meningococcal vaccine, besides reducing the number of vaccinated people who contracted the disease, also decreased the number of unvaccinated people who contracted the disease by almost 70%. A decrease that large is impossible to ignore or refute, and it unequivocally proves that vaccines play a large role in immunity even for people who are not vaccinated.

A popular viewpoint of vaccine opponents is that vaccines are just a scheme for pharmaceutical companies to make money off of the disease paranoia of American society. Admittedly, vaccines are a global industry worth almost $24 billion in US Dollars (as reported by WHO). Despite this, I reject the profits being made by vaccine production companies as a valid reason to abstain from vaccination. Though the companies do make considerable amounts of money from the administration of their vaccines, I propose that no price is too high for the safety of a child. Parents should be willing to stomach their discontent with the vaccine industry’s profits and get their children vaccinated anyway because they care about the wellbeing and health of their children.

Essentially, vaccination is important because it plays a huge factor in public health, not only for individuals, but entire populations. People have a responsibility to themselves and their own health, but also to the wellbeing of others who are at risk, so it is imperative that everyone takes the time to educate themselves about the details of vaccines. The stigma against vaccines must be replaced by rational, informed discussion so that when the time comes for the next generation to be immunized, parents are able to make the most reasonable, well-founded decisions about the health of future Americans.

Works Cited:

Kaddar, Miloud. "Global Vaccine Market Features and Trends." World Health Organization, www.who.int/influenza_vaccines_plan/resources/session_10_kaddar.pdf. Accessed 17 Sept. 2019.

Langone, Alix. “A 3-Year-Old Indiana Girl Who Was Not Vaccinated Died From the Flu This Week.” Time, 13 Feb. 2018, time.com/5156503/a-3-year-old-indiana-girl-who-was-not-vaccinated-died-from-the-flu-this-week/. Accessed 17 September 2019.

Ramsay, Mary E., et al. “Herd Immunity from Meningococcal Serogroup C Conjugate Vaccination in England: Database Analysis.” British Medical Journal, vol. 326, no. 7385, 15 Feb. 2003, pp. 365-66. British Medical Journal, doi:10.1136/bmj.326.7385.365. Accessed 17 September 2019.

World Health Organization. "Six Common Misconceptions about Vaccination." World Health Organization, www.who.int/vaccine_safety/initiative/detection/immunization_misconceptions/en/index2.html. Accessed 17 Sept. 2019.