Vaccines: Reasons Why People Avoid Them
If there were a way to prevent getting sick or possible death, wouldn’t everyone do it? Surprisingly, it’s a trend now for people to welcome preventable diseases. More and more people aren’t getting vaccinated each year and more and more people are dying because of it. There is no reason strong enough against getting vaccinated. There are a growing number of parents that are falsely claiming excuses to not vaccinate their children. Now, children are dying from a selfish choice their parents made. There are too many benefits for vaccines for people not to get them.
According to the National Foundation of Infectious Diseases, “Every year, 50,000 U.S. adults die from vaccine preventable diseases” (2017). There have been over twenty different vaccines invented from 1798 to now. Vaccines-preventable diseases haven’t gone away, and they can mean the difference between life and death. Now in time, people can travel around the world in a few days and diseases can travel with them. People can transmit diseases without knowing that they have them, so any unvaccinated person is at risk, especially children. Children are more friendly with others and touch everything. According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, diseases can live outside the body anywhere from a few hours to five months. Not only do children touch everything and put unknown objects near their face, their immune systems are also weaker. Vaccinating children will help protect them from serious illnesses and build their immune systems. Contrary to popular belief, a vaccine can’t give someone the disease its intended to protect the person from. Some vaccines contain traces of the “killed” virus, but it is impossible to get the virus. Vaccines are some of the safest medicines due to the United States having the best post-licensure system in the world. Vaccines keep people healthy. Taking safe, preventative measures against viruses will end up saving lives in the long run.
Parents are now falsely claiming that they did not vaccinate their child due to “religious reasons”. Islam is one of the only religions that strictly prohibit vaccines because some vaccines contain pork-derived products. Muslims believe that eating pork is forbidden. According to the Pew Research Center, Muslims only make up about 1.1% of the U.S. population. Yet, according to 2017 study by the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, around 14.6% of children go unvaccinated in the U.S. every year. A little suspicious that so many people claim religion, but only a small percentage of people’s religion directly prohibits it. Catholics and Christians believe in the old and new testament from the bible. In the bible in 2 Corinthians 8:9 it states, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.” Jesus Christ came into the world to take poverty away from his followers so they may be rich. Not rich financially, but rich in life. In 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 it also states “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit… You are not your own… Therefore, honor God with your bodies.” God gave his followers their bodies for them to take care of. Meaning, they must eat good food, exercise, and they care of their bodies to honor their God, prevent illnesses and be rich in life. What was created specifically to prevent illnesses and keep people healthy? Vaccines. Still, 14.6 percent of children aren’t vaccinated each year due to “religion” when almost every religion is biblically based, and the bible doesn’t prohibit it.
Some parents also choose to not vaccinate their children because they fear that they will develop Autism or ADHD. However, there is no conclusive evidence that vaccines can cause either. Vaccines are designed to prevent illnesses, not give children mental conditions. CHADD states, “What researchers are sure of, though, is that ADHD is not caused by vaccines given to prevent childhood illness.” The History of Vaccines also states, “Most autism researchers hold that the causes of autism are many and include genetic and environmental factors, but do not involve vaccines.” So, that excuse is also not reasonable. Parents are putting their children’s lives at risk because of their own selfish and invalid reasons. Even though mental disabilities derive from genetics and environmental factors, people want to blame vaccines.
Vaccine preventable diseases are not only deadly, but expensive. Adults who get sick might choose to work through it or just call a day or two off. With vaccine-preventable diseases, an adult can miss anywhere from five days to a month. That is, if they recover from the illness. When someone in the family gets sick, everyone in the house is at risk. Particularly children and elders. For instance, adults are the main source of whooping cough (pertussis) which is proven to be deadly for infants. In the United States, millions of people over the age of 18 get sick from diseases that vaccines are intended to protect them from. Leaving them unable to take care of themselves and their loved ones.
Most people don’t vaccinate their children because they lack knowledge about vaccines and what they do. Obviously, nobody wants to inject a crying child with an unknown medicine. It is very important that anyone getting a vaccine or vaccinating their child to do their research. It is crucial to look for hard evidence and credible sources in order to not be mislead by false numbers and made up facts. Parents say they don’t vaccinate because they don’t want their kid to have ADHD, but if they did some research, they would see why that is not true. Even if it was, why would a parent welcome a deadly disease onto their child just because they fear the chance of them having a hard time focusing.
