An Argumentative Paper in Favor of Vaccines - Free Essay

Different people around the world have distinct misconceptions, myths, and misinformation regarding vaccines and vaccination, which contributes to the fear and opposition to vaccination. Reservations about getting immunization for a certain group of people and their children could be a result of religious beliefs or individual or communal philosophical theories against vaccination. Some people point out the health implications and efficacy of the vaccines, stating that the disease that the healthcare system seeks to prevent through vaccination may not in any way pose severe effects on the lives of the people, in opposition to the vaccines. Because of the poor understanding of how vaccines operate and the many misconceptions about vaccines, the paper seeks to provide vital information on the importance of immunizations and vaccinations.

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Children who get a vaccination in their early stages of life get multiple vaccines at a time. Multiple vaccinations of children have brought about a common misconception and misinformation about the possibilities of overloading the immune system of the child. As a result, some people are skeptical about vaccines and vaccination of children believing that they may endanger the lives of their babies if they get multiple vaccinations. Overloading in vaccination has been a common misconception since the inception and combination of many vaccines into a single shot given to children. “Overloaded immunity” is a misconception and misinformation as medical and scientific research have in many occasions and repeatedly, revealed that combined shots are not harmful to the health of the children (Milano & Schneider, 2017). Contrary to the misconception, the combination of the vaccines is more effective than when they are administered as single units. Therefore, combined vaccines have no relations with the mythical belief of “overloaded immunity” as most people opposing vaccination would argue.

Most parents and people who believe in the misinformation on “overloaded immunity” choose to seek the vaccinations at different times. They follow a procedure that is popularly known as “spread out” to protect the children from the “believed” side-effects of the vaccine. Spreading out the time of administering the vaccines is detrimental to the health of the child as they may contact the infections or diseases that the vaccine seeks to prevent before they get the shot. Since no scientific proof and evidence-based research are backing up the concept of “overloaded immunity,” parents should not be worried about the combined or multiple shots given to the children. Moreover, spreading the vaccines shots is dangerous as it exposes children to preventable diseases.

Vaccination, in most cases, focuses on the prevention of possible occurrence of an outbreak of preventable diseases. Adherence to vaccines and vaccination standards established by the government may create a situation whereby diseases such as polio are rare in the community. Such a situation has brought about a misconception that these diseases are no longer available nor dangerous, and thus there is no need to vaccinate children. However, even though diseases such as polio could be controlled in our part of the world, it still exists in others (Kessler, Braasch, & Kardash, 2019). Any cases of re-appearance and re-infection can have severe effects on people who missed the vaccination shots. An excellent example is the re-occurrence of measles within the United States as a result of international travels (Kessler, Braasch, & Kardash, 2019). Therefore, the only sure way to be safe from the preventable diseases is to take the vaccination shots for the preventable diseases regardless of the prevalence of these avoidable diseases.

In a nutshell, vaccines and vaccination are critically essential in the prevention of diseases. Reliable information on the dangers, if any, and the side effects of vaccines are only available through medical research and studies. Misconceptions and misinformation on vaccination regarding the risks of “overloaded immunity” as well as those on diseases that have disappeared are extremely dangerous as they hinder the war against preventable diseases. No scientific research and findings are proving the concept of “overloaded immunity”. Therefore, vaccines should be administered to all in line with healthcare guidance.

References

Kessler, E. D., Braasch, J. L., & Kardash, C. M. (2019). Individual Differences in Revising (and Maintaining) Accurate and Inaccurate Beliefs About Childhood Vaccinations. Discourse Processes, 56(5-6), 415-428.

Milano, V., & Schneider, S. (2017). Vaccines: What You Really Need to Know (Doctoral dissertation, University of Wyoming. Libraries).