Illustration by Mia Turner
Most of us have gone to the doctor and gotten stabbed by a sharp needle for the sake of our health. As children, we didn’t know there was an advantage to shots, besides the lollipops we got afterwards. While kids don’t know that the painful vaccinations prevent disease, parents are in a position to listen to doctors and make informed decisions.
The problem is that some parents end up deciding the fate of not only their own children, but many others as well. Some diseases are so contagious that anyone who isn’t vaccinated, for health reasons or otherwise, can become infected immediately. Vaccines for dangerous and infectious diseases should be mandatory in schools, because the benefits of vaccines outweigh the risks by a wide margin.
Some vaccine-skeptical parents argue that vaccines cause autism, and that they’re making a decision for their own child, not everyone else’s. First of all, there is loads of evidence showing that there is no connection between vaccines and autism. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) has an entire page explaining that vaccines don’t cause autism, citing legitimate research which proves this. Besides, you aren’t just deciding for your own child you’re deciding for every child who can’t be vaccinated.
This includes people who are diagnosed with genetic diseases at young ages and have weak immune systems preventing them from being vaccinated, or people who have severe allergies to some ingredients in vaccinations, preventing them from getting vaccinated. Also, seniors who haven’t gotten vaccinated may have weakened immune systems, making it dangerous for them to get vaccinated.
All of these people are in the same boat; they have no choice but to rely on herd immunity, because if they pick up a serious disease it could be fatal.
“Herd immunity” describes when a large enough percentage of the population is immune to a disease so that the few people who aren’t immune won’t become affected. Herd immunity is what protects the otherwise unprotected. The more people who are vaccinated, the safer those who aren’t vaccinated are, because disease can’t travel well through vaccinated populations. Herd immunity is a lifesaver, and it’s imperative that everyone who can become vaccinated does so.
Schools are packed full of students breathing, bumping, and sharing seats that five other people have already sat in that day. Germs travel from person to person. Disease spreads fast. It’s more important in schools, like Berkeley High School (BHS), than anywhere else, that as many people as possible are vaccinated. There’s a condensed, high population of people in a small space, where they are required to be, with germs everywhere.
Two years ago, parents of BHS students lost the privilege of excusing their children from being vaccinated because of their personal beliefs. Now, parents must get their children vaccinated, regardless of personal beliefs, for their children to attend school. More and more, states and school districts are requiring students to be vaccinated in order to attend schools, and this is a great thing. The few parents that believe vaccination is harmful, shouldn’t get to decide for all other parents whether their child gets sick.