Individual Rights and Vaccination Policy

1 Individual Rights and Vaccination Policy The vaccination of children against various diseases has long been considered an essential public health practice. The vaccines given to children offer them long-lasting immunity against diseases. Unfortunately, in recent times, childhood vaccination has turned out to be a contentious issue. Parents claim they have the ultimate right to decide on the vaccination of their children. Consequently, the administration of vaccines to children is now based on the balance between parental autonomy in making decisions on whether to allow their children to get vaccinated and public health vaccination mandates. This discussion supports the mandatory vaccination of children against communicable diseases.

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2 Parental refusal of childhood vaccination, simply because they have a right to make a choice, does not befit the child, the parent or the community. Such a move predisposes the child and the community to the risk of infectious diseases. Since the ethical concerns of childhood immunizations span several public health domains, it is impractical to allow parents to be the sole ultimate decision-makers regarding this issue. The vaccination of children is supported by clinicians, school administrators, policymakers and other professionals who have vested interests in public health (Giubilini, Douglas & Savulescu, 2018). Further, vaccines are safe agents that offer protection against diseases and alleviate the risk of disability among children. Notably, some of the reasons provided by parents for their refusal of pediatric vaccination are not backed by scientific knowledge and evidence (McKee, & Bohannon, 2016). Vaccination of children helps to achieve herd immunity, further protecting community members against diseases (Giubilini, Douglas & Savulescu, 2018). Therefore parental autonomy should not hinder the vaccination of children, but rather, should encourage appropriate education of parents concerning the benefits of vaccines.

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References Giubilini, A., Douglas, T., & Savulescu, J. (2018). The moral obligation to be vaccinated: utilitarianism, contractualism, and collective easy rescue. Medicine, Health Care, and Philosophy, 21(4), 547-560. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11019-018-9829-y Hendrix, K. S., Sturm, L. A., Zimet, G. D., & Meslin, E. M. (2016). Ethics and Childhood Vaccination Policy in the United States. American journal of public health, 106(2), 273– 278. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2015.302952 McKee, C., & Bohannon, K. (2016). Exploring the Reasons behind Parental Refusal of Vaccines.

The journal of pediatric pharmacology and therapeutics: JPPT: the official journal of PPAG, 21(2), 104–109. https://doi.org/10.5863/1551-6776-21.2.104