Gratitude Not Attitude: Why we should vaccinate
Lynne Bell
Early last week, the Spokane Public School District got tough on vaccination, and pulled 143 students-who lacked documentation proving they had received the required immunizations- from classrooms from throughout the district. This action was described as a first step, triggered in part by a resurgence of measles in the U.S., as well as a whooping cough outbreak in the Spokane area.
At first, this action by the Spokane school district may seem rather draconian. However, later in the week, it was revealed that the process for non-compliant students and their parents went something like this:
If a student shows up at school and does not have proof of immunization status OR a signed certificate exemption (more on that later), they are called to the principal's office. Their parent(s) and/or guardian(s) are then called. They are then allowed to either fill out and sign a Certificate of Exemption for their child or they are referred to five free clinics that will bring their student's shots up-to-date, free of charge.
According to Washington State law, before a child attends school, parents and/or guardians are required to provide proof of immunization status OR to have filled out and signed the state's Certificate of Exemption form. Washington state still allows students to attend school unvaccinated, for philosophical, religious, or medical reasons. However, there is a caveat. In the event of an outbreak of illness, unvaccinated students (whether they have a completed Certificate of Exemption or not) must not attend school for 21 days, according to state law.
Prior to this crackdown on vaccination, non-compliant parents and guardians from within the Spokane Public School District each received a minimum of three phone calls, emails, and a physical letter mailed to their home(s) notifying them that their student is not compliant with state law.
The school district was the first in Washington state to react in this way to the current measles and whooping cough outbreaks in the U.S. However, state law clearly does still (with conditions) allow students to attend public schools unvaccinated.
I feel that this approach has been more than reasonable, and the two words that stand out for me in this story are: “law” and “public.” Exceptions to the law in this case are allowed within reason, and also with reasonable conditions attached. If you are fortunate enough to live in a democracy, you have rights and privileges, but so do your fellow citizens. And of course, if you choose to obey the law, there are also consequences.
As a citizen of a democratic society, you are also given an opportunity many people on the planet cannot even begin to fathom-free education in a public school system for yourself and your children. However, gratitude for this great gift to the public should at the very least, be paid for with respect for the rules and with respect for your fellow students and school staff who may be immuno-compromised and endangered by any illness, let alone some of the major illnesses covered by vaccination.
We are all citizens of the world, and as we all know, disease doesn't respect geography. Last week, across the globe in Australia, the federal government announced a “no jab, no pay” policy. That is, as of January 1, 2016, families could lose up to $15,000 Australian dollars (about $11,000) per child per year in tax and child care benefits unless their children are not vaccinated.
The actions these two democratic governments have undertaken to impel their citizens to vaccinate their children underscore the acute importance of mass immunization for the greater good of entire populations, and in this case, the very least the public can do is to comply.
Anti-vaccinations
By Kelly Running
Vaccinations are a hot topic lately with some people determinedly fighting against them, while others continue to support everything about vaccines and inoculations.
Vaccines became popular in history when smallpox ravaged the countryside. Milkmaids who had been around dairy cows suffering from cowpox didn’t contract smallpox and the question of how cowpox and smallpox were related became a question well worth researching.
Cowpox, which wasn’t as deadly to humans as smallpox was, was similar enough to invoke the same response from our immune systems as smallpox. Thus, the body would develop anti-bodies to fight cowpox, which on the cellular level was essentially the same as smallpox, so if someone was exposed to smallpox later they would have a better chance of their immune systems fighting it off.
Surely vaccines have come a long way since the rather graphic descriptions I read of the above practice. But, have they come far enough and should we be using them at all?
Today there are concerns regarding vaccines and people are arguing against vaccinations being used. As a result people are opting out of having their kids vaccinated. These concerns are actually the same as those which have been in place since the beginning, since before the word vaccine was created. People see vaccinations and question the effectiveness, the safety, and the necessity of them.
Though science has not proven the relationship between vaccines and autism, the scientific community has also not completely disproven it either. Since, there is no definitive proof related to whether vaccines cause autism or not, the chance that it does deters people from vaccinating their kids.
For some people they see vaccinations as a parenting choice, which does not concern anyone else. They live their lifestyle and if they do not believe in vaccinations will choose not to vaccinate their children. Ultimately they see it as their choice as a family and feel that their beliefs whether related to being natural, a religion, or other should be respected.
Another concern regarding vaccines focuses on whether or not a child’s immune system can be overloaded. In relation to this, Japan raised its minimum vaccination age to two-years-old in the mid-1970s. Additionally the influenza vaccine in Australia was suspended, in 2010 for the year, for children under five-years-old due to a large amount of children becoming ill following the vaccination process.
Further to these concerns there is wonder of if vaccines are truly effective. For example, influenza changes each year and the vaccine used for one season is different than the one the previous year. This means the vaccine may or may not work against this new strain.
Other diseases do not evolve quite like influenza, but it is possible they too would change over time and that one vaccine may no longer work for the disease it is attempting to protect the individual from.
