By: Mackenzie Willett
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Medicine today is changing all the time with new advancements coming and going every day. Vaccines are no different, they are constantly upgrading, and new vaccines are created every year, and some could even be added to the list of vaccine mandatories for schools. It varies by what different state you live in, but most schools require at least six different types of vaccines for a child to take before they can be admitted into a public school. With this information parents must think about choosing how they want their child to be vaccinated. Some parents are good with vaccines and follow the required vaccine guidelines that the school gives for their child. Other parents, though, might struggle with the guidelines or are lost as to why these specific vaccines are required. It may not even align with their personal or religious beliefs, so some parents choose to exempt their child from these required vaccines. Parents are even concerned for the health reasons and safeties that come with vaccines wanting more research to be done. Though this can only be done in certain states and for very specific reasons, exempting your child from vaccines can happen. Even in our political climate right now the current U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is looking to fund more research for vaccines and is concerned with the safety of them but wants to prioritize the public health benefit of vaccines too. The question really is why has “vaccine hesitancy” become more of a thing in the last few years? With the internet being so large and social media affecting people’s views, there is lots of misinformation out there that people get confused on what could be true about a certain vaccine or not. Even though some things that are said about vaccines have now been debunked by science, some people still believe what the internet is telling them. Parents should carefully consider how getting vaccines will affect their child.
Why No to Vaccinating your Child
Some parents think that it is not a good idea to vaccinate their child and have some compelling reasons as to why they do this. In her medical article, “Exploring the Reasons Behind Parental Refusal of Vaccines” Chephra McKee explains the reasons and opinions of why some parents might struggle or delay to having their child be vaccinated and how it might differ from their family’s beliefs. She goes on to say that families with religious beliefs are the majority reason why parents do not let their child be vaccinated. According to Mckee’s article on some parents’ beliefs, “The animal-derived gelatin used in producing some vaccines as well as the human fetus tissue used in the rubella component pose the largest concerns.” Some vaccines contain ingredients like porcine gelatin which is derived from pigs and can cause conflict with religions like Judaism and Muslims. Lawmakers today put guidelines in place that require parents to show “genuine and sincere religious” beliefs for their child to get religious exemption for vaccines (McKee). Parents might also be concerned about the safety of their child, having come across various online articles or social media posts warning them against vaccines of varying reasons. Some news websites point out the concerns with components of certain vaccines “and report that vaccines can cause autism, brain damage or behavioral problems.” While these are rare occurrences, this doesn’t stop a growing fear in parents that it could happen to their child, making them more likely to refuse or delay vaccinations (Mckee). Parents also fear with these rare problems, bombarding their child with multiple vaccines at once could inhibit their immune system, so in order to protect their child, they either delay the recommend vaccines or disregard them all together. It’s important for parents to have a good relationship with their family doctor or pediatrician if they are concerned about their child getting certain vaccines. People who believe in their child not getting vaccines or delaying them share that it is good to get all the information that you can and bring questions to your doctor if there is any.
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Why Yes to Vaccinating your Child
While some parents choose to not vaccinate their child or delay vaccinating them, there are those who argue that vaccinations are a necessary thing with many advantages to children in the long run. In his article, “Childhood Vaccinations Has Saved Millions of Lives, but Rising Hesitancy Could Reverse Decades of Progress” Steven Woolf argues that “vaccine hesitancy and declining childhood vaccination coverage rates could make rare diseases more common again.” So, if rising hesitancy or declining of childhood vaccinations continues this could mean rare illness like polio, measles, or even whooping cough could become a more common occurrence. There is a phenomenon called herd immunity which is “the percentage of the population that must be immunized to prevent disease transmission” so that they can protect those who are not vaccinated or people who have a “compromised immune system” (Woolf). The problem is the threshold is extremely high for there the be any herd immunity for a school. Some diseases need at least 95 percent of the community to be vaccinated for there to be any herd immunity, and some schools barely make that threshold. With many people having opinions on vaccines there is quite a bit of disinformation about them online that should be stopped. Woolf explains that “[d]ecades of scientific research have shown that the lives that vaccines have saved and the major disabilities they prevent far outweigh the small risk of complications.” Despite the science backing herd immunity and vaccines, misinformation on social media is often times more easily accessible and more likely to be seen by parents. It is important for leaders in the community to stand up and counter this misinformation, and gain back the trust of parents to “strengthen support for school vaccination requirements” (Woolf). Vaccines are an important thing to keep your child healthy and alive especially in a school setting where sickness is prevalent. Herd immunity needs to be the main focus to keep children safe in their day to day lives, so it is important for children to take the required vaccines before starting the school year.
Similarities and Differences
There are many similarities and differences between McKee’s explanation of parents’ opinions and Woolf’s point of view about vaccines. One of the largest differences between these two writers is their opposing viewpoints on how parents should view vaccines and why some parents are cautious about them. McKee shares that some parents believe that having a natural immunity is better suited for their child compared to having their child being exposed to a bunch of vaccines, while Woolf points out that there is a similar thing called herd immunity. In which, “High vaccination rates, then, not only protect individual children from vaccine preventable diseases but also maintains herd immunity.” Both authors share about child immunity as an achievable thing, but McKee’s explanation of some parents’ claims differs from Woolf in believing that if your child is exposed to these illnesses and gets sick they can gain this sort of natural immunity, parents having the opinion that it is better for their child in the long run rather than exposing them to vaccines. Woolf looks at this subject with a more statistical or scientific outlook. Sharing that many of these diseases would still be around if not for vaccines. For example, in the 1950s before a polio vaccine was around many children died each year and this number could have gone into the thousands in just one year, “including the largest polio epidemic in 1953, which resulted in 58,000 cases and 3,100 deaths” (Woolf). They are both concerned about children and how parents should handle the topic of choosing how or if their child should get vaccines. Woolf looks at the topic of vaccines for children as how it is going to affect the community as a whole and that they are important for the well-being of a school community. McKee shares the perspective of many parents that it should be a parent’s choice in the matter and if vaccines differ from personal or religious beliefs, that this should be taken into account. Thus, the two authors disagree on how vaccines are or are not a social responsibility.
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Despite their different standings these two sides do not disagree on everything. Both sides share about how there is a lot of misinformation on vaccines out there on the internet for any parent to see. McKee states the opinion of parents that “[m]any of the reports and opinions that bombard parents and cause uncertainty are targeted at the safety of vaccines” and Woolf agrees sharing “vaccine misinformation campaigns and influencers are fueling vaccine hesitancy, threating gains in vaccine acceptance.” Another point that both authors agree on is that vaccine exemption rates are rising and it could be a cause for concern. Exemption laws in many states are deciding to become more lenient with “kindergarten children with nonmedical exemptions from one or more required vaccinations increase[ing] since 2019” (Woolf). McKee also seems to agree that more states now in the US are allowing exemptions from required vaccines for parents who cite religious reason, along with “18 states that make special accommodations for those who express philosophical reasons” (McKee). These similarities share that even though there is required vaccines for children, there are those who choose not to have their children exposed, which makes exemptions rates higher in recent years. While both authors and explained opinions on parents’ beliefs differ on if their child should or should not be vaccinated, they do agree that there is a lot of information out there on the internet for parents to look at and which can cause vaccine uncertainty with some parents.
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Strengths and Weaknesses
Each side of the vaccine hesitancy argument comes with strengths and weaknesses. Chephra McKee presents several strong points within her argument and explanation about why some parents choose to have their child exempted from vaccines. One of the things she does best in her argument is how she breaks it down into the different reasons for why some parents are uncertain or do not vaccinate their kids, going over how there is some religious reasons why some choose not to and sharing how some of the ingredients of certain vaccines can cause a problem with certain religious beliefs. She also examines how some parents want more information on vaccines and are concerned about the safeties for them. This connects to the emotions parents could feel toward their child’s safety and how best to deal with vaccine hesitancy. Where McKee succeeds in sharing an opinion of parents, her argument seems to lack in some evidence to the matter. She fails to share much statistical evidence in how some of these reasons work out for people. In one of the sections McKee talks about how some parents philosophically do not believe in vaccines and think natural immunity is better for their child, going further to say that some parents believe that natural immunity is even better for their children as they get older rather than having their system be flooded with vaccines. Parents think that this will keep their child more protected from some rare vaccine related illnesses and other sicknesses as well. Even though McKee might share good reasons for why some parents might choose not to vaccinate their kids, she lacks in statistical evidence making her explanation now somewhat weak. Additionally, McKee leaves out how the choices of these parents not having their child be vaccinated could impact a community or school. With leaving this out it makes her argument weaker and overall, just a shallow opinion on why some parents choose not to vaccinate their kids.
Woolf’s argument on the opposite end provides a pretty strong argument, particularly for providing a lot of background information about different types of vaccine preventable diseases such as measles and polio. By sharing how these two different vaccines affected the country in reducing the number of cases and deaths found, he gives good information for his viewpoint on the topic and how statistical evidence proves vaccines are best for society. As well as sharing different statics about herd immunity and how exemption rates are affecting the number of sickness outbreaks in schools, he strengthens our understand on the topic he is discussing and the consequences that vaccine hesitancy can have on a community. However, the main issue with Woolf’s article is that he does not really discuss the major reason that opposes his argument. The largest reason some parents choose not to vaccinate their kids is because of religious standings or beliefs. Woolf does touch on this topic a little bit but leaves out any deeper discussion by failing to really address this argument to the fullest, making his argument seem a little disinterested in opposition. Both sides share strong arguments for the different perspectives on the issue but also fail to go deeper or share the proper statistical information to further their point. Thus, neither article really hits the bar nor fails entirely on their argument about vaccines.
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The Compromise
As both sides did not fully succeed in their position on vaccination hesitancy, the best course of action for this debate seems to be in the middle ground. Both sides would agree that there is a lot of information about vaccines and some of it can be false or misinformation, which can confuse a parent’s choice. It would be good to bring these concerns that parents have about vaccines to their pediatrician or care provider. It is also important to keep an open dialog between doctor and parent so that they can go over the safety concerns or any other information that the parents are looking for. It is best to go to a provider that understands vaccines and not trust social media or news outlets that share opinions without evidence to support their claim. If parents are still concerned or fear that certain vaccines do not align with their beliefs, they should be open with their care provider or pediatrician. Even creating a plan to do vaccines at a different rate or staggering them rather than doing all the vaccines all at once can be a middle ground choice that a parent can choose in order to curve concern about how different vaccines could affect their child. Currently, some states in America like Florida are looking to remove mandatory vaccines, which could cause them to be more expensive if the government is no longer issuing them. Making it harder for some parents to choose if their child should be vaccinated or not. I believe that vaccines are a good thing to do and should be required for public schools, but I agree that exemptions should be allowed for some situations. Overall, this is a huge debate between medical professionals and parents that effectively should be looked at as a case-by-case outlook and only deeming full vaccine exemption when it is beyond necessary.
Sources
-McKee, Chephra. “Exploring the Reasons Behind Parental Refusal of Vaccines” PubMed Central, 2016, https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4869767/
-Woolf, Steven. “Childhood Vaccination Has Saved Millions of Live, but Rising Hesitancy Could Reverse Decades of Progress” American Progress, 18 Jan. 2025, https://www.americanprogress.org/article/childhood-vaccination-has-saved-millions-of-lives-but-rising-hesitancy-could-reverse-decades-of-progress/
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