Vaccination has been identified as a reliable approach to controlling and containing pandemics and outbreaks of quick-spreading diseases. They have been used for a long time to contain other diseases successfully. With the outbreak of covid-19, governments and institutions have been forced to institute mandatory vaccination of their members. The vaccinations have been aimed at improving the quality of life by helping people to become more resistant to the virus. SSI was not left behind in the quest for finding a reliable vaccine against the virus (Gantt, S. (2021). However, this has elicited controversies and disputes among work teams resulting in stress and fear. This has also caused conflict among employees affecting their productivity and overall output. This work aims to evaluate and identify a website with reliable information on the diseases and approved vaccination in the United States of America to be recommended to employees.
Problem
Vaccinations were aimed at cushioning people against the virus, but they turned out to be disliked. Most people advised taking vaccinations resisted for fear of the possible side effects. Other people also feared that the vaccine could not be as effective as it claimed to be. Therefore, employees feared being vaccinated for fear of getting sick or not getting the benefits they hoped for from the vaccine (Li, X. (2022). Also, many people claim that the vaccine may not be legal since there is no legal body that gave out a mandate for the vaccine to be administered to people. Lastly, there was a lack of enough information to convince the employees that the vaccines indeed work and that there are no side effects. With time, various websites have been developed to help inform people about the benefits of mandatory vaccinations and that they have nothing to worry about.
Several arguments support mandatory vaccination of a specific group. For example, mandatory vaccination of children below five years before enrollment in public schools and some private and daycare institutions in 50 US states. However, it was found out that there is an exception on the medical ground and religious beliefs, with a few other states allowing a philosophical exemption for those who don’t want immunization based on moral and personal reasons (Wu, J. W. (2021). Such people were not denied any services as it was their personal choice not to get the vaccinations compared to those who had medical conditions and could not get vaccinated. Mandatory vaccination has been argued to be effective in ensuring no community member is at higher risk of being attacked by the disease. This blanket immunization ensures all public members are protected against disease outbreaks and that no one is left behind during the immunization period. Therefore, everyone will be protected against the virus and its effects.
Similarly, some individuals delay vaccination which makes some vulnerable to the condition of the disease in later stages in life for a vaccination that was to be offered at an early age. A good example is parents who delay their kids’ vaccination until they are ready to join the school. These parents could either be ignorant of the vaccinations or do not want to vaccinate their children for the reasons discussed above. This makes mandatory immunization important so that some of these life-threatening diseases are controlled (Mayhew, S. (2020). Children will be more protected from an early age, thus reducing their vulnerability to life-threatening conditions later. As they grow up, they also receive other immunizations to boost their immunities and reduce their chances of contracting some infectious diseases that they can get because of no immunization or vaccination. Therefore, if their immunities are stronger, they have very low chances of being affected by the virus.
In the article Medical Ethics by Julian Savulescu, there are advocates for mandatory vaccination for Covid-19 if the threat posed by the virus to the health sector is grievous. This vaccination can also be necessitated if the vaccines have high efficacy and safety. Since their safety is assured, it gives the basis for penalties to be issued in case public members do not accept the vaccines prescribed to them. Proportionate penalties for not complying are set to coarse members to vaccination (Gantt, S. (2021). Some of the penalties have included isolation, quarantining and restriction of movement, imposing fines, and withholding benefits to those without vaccinations. Although it caused a rebellion on some occasions, it has increased the uptake of the vaccine. People will most likely agree to something that the government has said to be okay more than those from the private sector. Rebellion against the vaccine leads to the spread of lies and propaganda, leading to lesser people agreeing to take them. Such cases have made the government not impose any penalties on the public members since it causes resistance. Therefore, people are only encouraged to accept the vaccination because of the numerous benefits, but no one is forced to accept them.
Several institutions in the US, both public and private, have implemented mandatory vaccination. One such example is UCONN, which has policies and procedures that ensure that all its employees and other personnel undergo mandatory vaccination, whether a contractor or volunteers. Doing this brings equality among all employees and reduces the chances of 9thers getting sick and infecting other employees (Li, X. (2022). Such other institutions, the policy, and procedures were exceptional for individuals with medical conditions and serious religious beliefs. Another individual in the list of exemptions included pregnant and breastfeeding mothers. These groups were exempted with sufficient evidence from studies that showed that the vaccines were not suitable for them or their young ones. The institution even went ahead to specify the vaccines to be administered to their workforce. They also differentiated the vaccine based on their doses, administered in two doses and one dose. Therefore, one can easily choose which dose to be administered to them. Disciplinary action for the non-compliance was also listed and included dismissal in line with the university by-laws. This greatly increased the vaccination among members and reduced the prevalence and transmission of covid-19 in the institution.
The UCONN institution is the best for implementing vaccination to the public. The institution is aware that different people have different needs, and some are at a more predisposed disadvantage than others. Therefore, arrangements are made to ensure that everyone benefits from the vaccine, and those who cannot get vaccinated have other chances later (Anderson, E. J. (2021). The institution did not have to threaten people that they would be punished for not getting the vaccination but rather encouraged them on the benefits. Those disadvantaged groups were given guidelines to protect themselves against the virus and ensure they were as protected as those members who had been vaccinated.
Solution
Vaccination is a known effective intervention to prevent illness and viruses and helps to save many lives. Despite this, vaccine uptake has been downward due to misguided concerns over their efficiency and safety. Many people do not have faith in these vaccinations because of many false stories from friends and those already vaccinated. Mandatory vaccination has been found to control these illnesses (Mayhew, S. (2020). To increase acceptance of mandatory vaccination and reduce controversies among the employees of SSI the is a need for more education on the benefits of vaccines. Knowledge on the vaccines to be used needs to be made available to the employees and sites with reliable information to be availed to employees. Having more knowledge on the vaccines will help distinguish gossip and rumors from real facts and accept the vaccines that will benefit them.
Members of the organization should be referred to sites such as the Center for Disease Control that consistently updates new information and findings relating to the diseases. This will also help employees see the severity of the disease to prioritize mandatory vaccination. The management should lead as an example in participation in the immunization process and set an example for other employees. Setting penalties will ensure employees see the consequences of not taking the vaccines. The penalties stated will also cement the desire of the workforce to uptake the vaccines so that they may not lose their benefits (Gantt, S. (2021). Timely communication of emerging information about the existing and new vaccines to employees will reduce resistance to mandatory vaccination. All of this will increase employees’ familiarity with vaccines, which will improve their acceptability. SSI will ensure its employees, customers, and the business are protected against diseases and losses related to illness through all this.
Conclusion
Everyone should be well educated on the benefits of vaccinations and not only covid-19 vaccination since others exist. The education will make them aware of the various solutions available for any illness that they may come across. Moreover, the penalties stated by the government should be communicated to ensure that everyone is aware of them and does not stay ignorant (Anderson, E. J. (2021). If people want to be exempted from vaccinations, they have to state their reasons and ensure they are understood so that they are not affected by the penalties stated by the government. According to one’s country, one has the freedom to decide on the type of vaccine that will be administered to them since there is a lot to choose from. Skepticism should be avoided
Vaccinations have been a big part of everyday lives since time immemorial. The development of vaccines is meant to help improve the quality of life when people are faced with difficult situations like the covid-19 pandemic. Various organizations are responsible for developing rich vaccines for different cases. The covid-19 pandemic, a new thing to everyone, was one of the diseases that needed vaccines to help the sick. However, many people were skeptical about accepting the vaccines at first since there were many doubts about them (Li, X. (2022). Many governments have had to devise ways of ensuring that citizens follow all the guidelines for vaccinations. More so, individuals were exempted from the vaccines because of medical reasons. Many people still do not believe in vaccines yet, and not everyone worldwide has been fully vaccinated. Even with the penalties given, it remains a personal choice to be vaccinated. However, everyone should realize that vaccinations have more benefits and that it is for their good to be vaccinated against covid-19 or any other virus.
References
Kamidani, S., Rostad, C. A., & Anderson, E. J. (2021). COVID-19 vaccine development: a pediatric perspective. Current opinion in pediatrics, 33(1), 144-151.
Le, T. T., Cramer, J. P., Chen, R., & Mayhew, S. (2020). Evolution of the COVID-19 vaccine development landscape. Nat Rev Drug Discov, 19(10), 667-668.
Sadarangani, M., Raya, B. A., Conway, J. M., Iyaniwura, S. A., Falcao, R. C., Colijn, C., … & Gantt, S. (2021). Importance of COVID-19 vaccine efficacy in older age groups. Vaccine, 39(15), 2020-2023.
Skjefte, M., Ngirbabul, M., Akeju, O., Escudero, D., Hernandez-Diaz, S., Wyszynski, D. F., & Wu, J. W. (2021). COVID-19 vaccine acceptance among pregnant women and mothers of young children: survey results in 16 countries. European journal of epidemiology, 36(2), 197-211.
Tam, C. C., Qiao, S., & Li, X. (2022). Factors associated with decision making on COVID-19 vaccine acceptance among college students in South Carolina. Psychology, Health & Medicine, 27(1), 150-161.
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