Do You Think Childhood Vaccinations Should Be Compulsory?

[Sammiejane]

It is not the vaccination that loses effectiveness over time, it is the fact that the immune system "forgets" over time. Which is why they reccomend booster shots and that there are very few vaccines that are only given once. Catching diptheria naturally does not give you lifelong immunity so why would having a vaccination against it give you lifelong immunity? Actually having whooping cough does not give you lifelong immunity, nor will the vaccine, again why they reccomend you have regular booster shots. the same with tetanus. If the full strength wild strains wont give you life long protection you can't expect the vaccines to, it is an unfair ideal for them to live up to.

Well I would have to disagree, i have had chicken pox and rubella as a child and as i am pg i have just had my blood work done and all the markers say that i am immune - no booster needed, no additional exposure required. Most of these 'diseases' are NEVER forgotten by your bodies immune system, in fact some of them are stored else where in your body.

[Epacris]

I actually do consider myself a parent that vaccinates my children “for society”, even though there is a small risk to them as individuals. I strongly believe in the importance of maintaining herd immunity to protect those individual in our society that can’t be safely vaccinated themselves.

But this is not really that much of a problem for me because I don’t believe there is a great risk to my children as individuals in having them vaccinated. And the clincher for me is that there is no peer reviewed, published, scientific evidence that the current vaccination schedule is unsafe. As a scientist I am trained in evaluating evidence and I don’t consider anecdotal evidence good enough for me to base my decisions on. And I also believe that there are just as many vested interests in the anti-vaccination campaign.

I guess if vaccination rates drop, herd immunity will drop and we will see more incidences of diseases that used to be controlled by vaccination in both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals. Perhaps then, as a society, and as individuals, our opinions may change?

And I’d like to also add, I personally (and my DH) are fully immunised against a range of diseases. I use the word immunised because our blood tests show that we are. We also don’t smoke, eat healthy food (well, mostly) and put our seatbelts on.

[Mummato2]

And I also believe that there are just as many vested interests in the anti-vaccination campaign.

Just as there is a major vested interest in the drug companies who manufacture the vaccines and doctors that choose to give a particular drug company's vaccine to their patients.

It's a major money making industry sadly. Nothing is done for the complete good of mankind - it's all about the dollar.

[Trillian]

There is compulsory, and then there is compulsory kwim? The school argument doesn't really fly because it isn't so much school that is compulsory, but rather education is compulsory, school is just the place that facilitates that.

I think that generally there would be more acceptance of a 'compulsory' program if the reasons why people who don't vaccinate are addressed - by that I mean at the moment, vaccinations are not 100% failsafe, there are risks of them failing and there are risks of severe side effects and even death and that isn't even touching on the crap that they include with them, ingredients that have no place in an adult body let alone and infants. When they can make those changes so that vaccinations are safer, less toxic and more effective then the public may be more receptive to the idea of a program such as this. This isn't too dissimilar to the calls to make the national donor register opt out, rather than the current opt in and I imagine that the same reasons for not having it could apply here - basic infringement of human rights to decide what to do with your body etc.

[Little Chicken]

Well I would have to disagree, i have had chicken pox and rubella as a child and as i am pg i have just had my blood work done and all the markers say that i am immune - no booster needed, no additional exposure required. Most of these 'diseases' are NEVER forgotten by your bodies immune system, in fact some of them are stored else where in your body.

I actually never said the body forgets all the diseases it has ever had. I only pointed out the main three which is why they reccomend regular ten yearly boosters for them.

[Epacris]

I guess I didn’t really answer the question before, I am happy with the way it is now, compulsory vaccination with a small number of contentious objections.

I think that generally there would be more acceptance of a 'compulsory' program if the reasons why people who don't vaccinate are addressed

I couldn’t agree more, genuine concerns need to be taken seriously.

Just as there is a major vested interest in the drug companies who manufacture the vaccines and doctors that choose to give a particular drug company's vaccine to their patients.

I only said that because so often the “drug company” line is trotted out by the anti-vaccination lobby. All I’m saying is that there are vested interests on the other side as well.

letting someone inject either of my babies with that toxic crap.

And FWIW, like pretty much ALL parents, I take my role as a parent very seriously. I love my children with all my heart and soul, I would die for them in a heartbeat and I personally don’t believe that when I have them vaccinated I am injecting them with toxic crap. That for me, as a thoroughly researched and educated scientist, is really hard to hear.

[Mummato2]

I only said that because so often the “drug company” line is trotted out by the anti-vaccination lobby. All I’m saying is that there are vested interests on the other side as well.

Oh I agree - I think it's ridiculous something this huge on both sides is driven by money. So sad