Vaccination Dilemmas
Among the various public health interventions, vaccination has been proven to be the most effective since it has prevented many deaths from infectious illnesses annually. However, even though numerous scientific researchers have demonstrated the efficacy of vaccination, some guardians and parents are still in denial and oppose the process of vaccinating their children. Opposition from parents and guardians can arise from several concerns, such as phobia of vaccination safety, lack of trust in pharmaceutical entities, and religious beliefs. Even though parents and guardians have the right to decide on their children’s well-being, the act of opposing vaccination against diseases can bring about ethical dilemmas that have negative impacts both on their children’s health and on the general public’s health. This essay discusses the moral implications of parents denying their children the right to vaccination and offers insight into a possible occurrence where making informed decisions is vital.
Parental opposition to vaccination is an ethical dilemma that stems from the tension between personal autonomy and communal responsibility. From one point of view, parents have the right to decide on their children’s health based on their values and beliefs. This sovereignty is embalmed in medical ethics, which emphasizes informed consent and the client’s autonomy. However, when parents refuse to allow their children to be vaccinated, they not only harm their offspring but also increase the risk of spreading diseases that could be easily prevented by vaccination.
In essence, this dilemma lies in the notion of population immunity whereby, if many people in a community are vaccinated, they offer indirect protection to the population that cannot be vaccinated, such as older people, infants, and people with weak immune systems. Similarly, if a large number of people are unvaccinated because of parental opposition, their population immunity will be compromised, hence causing disease outbreaks which a single shot could have controlled. In addition, the decisions of parents not to vaccinate their children can have negative implications for healthcare systems and the general public. During a disease outbreak, the government and the corresponding health sector are required to gather substantial resources, such as outbreak mitigation steps and surveillance, to contain the disease. Such resources would be helpful, especially in dealing with other pressing healthcare concerns, if the diseases preventable by vaccines were controlled.
Consider a situation whereby a parent or guardian hesitates to vaccinate their child due to a phobia about vaccination safety. For the parent to make a wise and informed decision, they should be given evidence-based data that helps answer their concerns. According to one peer-reviewed journal titled “Parental attitudes towards mandatory vaccination” by (Smith et al., 2021), while vaccination has helped reduce morbidity and deaths from many illnesses, a worrying trend of few children being vaccinated has risen globally. In order to curb and address this issue, most countries have set up compulsory vaccination projects that have successfully boosted vaccination rates. However, the ethics of authorizing vaccination still pose a notable dilemma. Authorizing vaccinations may force people to overcome hurdles to vaccination and increase public health results. However, there are debates concerning the ethical innuendo of such instructions. These mandates could ingrain negative views about vaccination and worsen anti-vaccine opinions that may cause negative insights to the hesitant guardians. However, if a mandatory vaccination program is implemented, marginalized communities may be disproportionately affected. Therefore, before deciding to impose mandatory vaccination, it is important to examine the impact it has on parental beliefs first. Recently, systematic reviews have looked into how parents feel about mandatory vaccination. The reviews found that even though mandatory vaccination may increase the number of vaccinated people, it still has potential challenges and worsens existing variations.
According to another journal titled “Strategies to Overcome Vaccine Hesitancy: A Systematic Review” by (Singh et al., 2022), vaccination hesitancy threatens health worldwide, entailing thorough strategies to analyze underlying issues and boost vaccination. Even though mandatory vaccination has been regarded as a way to lower vaccination uptake, it is important to understand the main causes of hesitancy to develop successful interventions. Some key insights found after analyzing vaccine hesitancy were revealed after thorough systematic research. Communal-based strategies, financial incentives, and technology-based literacy programs emerged as the best strategies for amplifying immunization usage. The results emphasize the essence of adjusting interventions to tackle the specific reasons behind vaccine hesitancy in the targeted group. Therefore, healthcare providers can ensure that people adhere to vaccinations through evidence-based interventions to achieve positive public health outcomes.
Vaccine hesitancy is a notable hurdle to public health globally. This obstacle is mainly propagated by misinformation and charged by social media and, sometimes, through celebrity support. A study titled “Vaccine safety: myths and misinformation” by (Geoghegan et al.,2020) discovered that despite formidable scientific proof in support of vaccines, there still exist concerns about the efficacy of vaccines, contributing to a decrease in vaccine uptake. In order to address this issue, a rigorous understanding of the safety of vaccines and the spread of authentic information to the public is highly recommended. This journal comprehensively reviews the researched proof of vaccine safety and refutes uncouth misconceptions. The journal explains how misinformation led to a decrease in vaccine uptake, hence causing the outbreak and spread of diseases like measles, which are preventable. The refuted link between the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism illustrates the results of false information on public health, provoking future disease rebirth. Regardless of countless scientific proofs supporting vaccination, addressing wrong claims is still needed. Health workers are key in handling vaccine hesitancy by giving the public proof and research-based recommendations. Furthermore, substantial research always disproves claims that vaccines are responsible for causing autoimmune diseases and causing negative effects on the immune system. Therefore, there is a need for clear communication about vaccination safety to ensure that it is widely accepted and trusted to prevent the spread of preventable diseases.
In summary, parents who oppose vaccination of their children present an ethical dilemma that stabilizes personal autonomy and communal welfare. Even though parents are mandated to make decisions on their children’s health, their decisions have overarching outcomes for public health. When addressing vaccine hesitancy, it is crucial to make informed decisions, and healthcare providers are tasked with dealing with parental concerns. Therefore, encouraging vaccine uptake will protect the whole community and children from preventable diseases.
References
Geoghegan, S., O’Callaghan, K. P., & Offit, P. A. (2020). Vaccine safety: myths and misinformation. Frontiers in microbiology, 11, 510007.https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2020.00372/full
Singh, P., Dhalaria, P., Kashyap, S., Soni, G. K., Nandi, P., Ghosh, S., … & Prakash, D. (2022). Strategies to overcome vaccine hesitancy: a systematic review. Systematic reviews, 11(1), 78.https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13643-022-01941-4
Smith, L. E., Hodson, A., & Rubin, G. J. (2021). Parental attitudes towards mandatory vaccination; a systematic review. Vaccine, 39(30), 4046-4053.https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0264410X21007428
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