As flu season rolls around it posts a question whether the flu vaccination should be taken or not. All around the United States tons of people get the horrendous influenza virus, and it is no fun. In New Jersey there is a “first-in-the-nation requirement that children get a flu shot in order to attend preschools and day-care centers.” It doesn’t seem like such a bad idea, until you stop to hear what the parents have to say. In this MSNBC article many parents got together and rallied against the policy and “voicing support for a bill that would allow parents to opt out of mandatory vaccinations for their children.” When I first read this line I thought to myself, ‘okay these parents are being stubborn.’ They are being told what to do and they just do not like that. After reading their arguments it makes sense that they are worried. They want to make sure whatever is going into their children’s bodies are safe and unharmed.
The only thing really publicized about the vaccination is that it will help your body fight off the virus. It fails to mention the harmful effects that could come along with the vaccination. Obviously the harmful effects do not happen every time and are rare but there always are those certain instances that may occur. Many parents are worried about the side effects. For example many parents “contend there has been inadequate research into the vaccine’s impact on small children.” Are their bodies developed enough to take the vaccination without contracting the virus? Also the parents against the state policy believe “various types of vaccines are being overused, resulting in more cases of autism, and attention deficit hyperactivity.” This would be a definite factor keeping the parents from being so willing to have their children injected with the vaccine. Nobody wants their child to develop those disorders, and having that slight possibility of that happening is a scary thing to think about.
On the other hand the state has good points for the law. The state wants the children to get vaccinated so if they do get the virus it doesn’t pass on to other children in the school or daycare. The New Jersey government realizes that they are more vulnerable to vaccine-preventable diseases because of their “high population density, a mobile population and many recently arrived immigrants.” So they took the initiative to do something about it. They view this law as something that is going to keep many more children healthy throughout the flu season nothing more than that.
It is a hard decision to reason with, do they let the parents do what they believe is right for their children? Or is this something that needs to be kept with the New Jersey government?
1 comment:
This law reminds me of the law Texas was trying to pass about the HPV vaccination to make it law for all girls to get the series of shots before they could go to school. In my opinion things like these should not be made mandatory; it should be up to the person who has the option to take it. I understand that the vaccine has many benefits but there are also side effects that come along with the vaccine that prevent people from getting the series. If the benefits outweigh the bad then the shot should be taken but there are also factors such as religion and beliefs that prevent people from getting the shot. Ultimately it is up to the parents not the state to determine what is good for the child and once the person is eighteen years old they should be able to make their own decision about the vaccine.
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