Vaccination is a lifesaver. There are many vaccines that are recommended and often made imperative. Parents are consistently made aware of the significance of childhood vaccinations. But there is a contrarian view that doesn’t endorse vaccination, certainly not blindly.
There are obviously certain pros and cons of childhood vaccinations but there is no denying that vaccination has changed the world, for the better. Let us talk about the various pros and cons of childhood vaccinations for an objective assessment.
The Pros of Childhood Vaccinations
1. Protection against a horde of diseases
Vaccination can protect kids from various diseases during infancy and early childhood. Some of those diseases are life threatening and there may or may not be a cure. Vaccination is a safe, effective and lasting way to protect kids from a horde of diseases. Many of those diseases have caused innumerable deaths in the past. Such unpleasant realities are a thing of the past today, primarily owing to vaccination. Vaccines can protect kids from disabilities, development delays and many kinds of viral infections.
2. Preventing an epidemic
The latest Ebola outbreak has reiterated the significance of childhood vaccination. There was no vaccine for Ebola when multiple countries in Africa and West Asia got affected and the infections spread far and wide. Thousands died in one of the worst epidemics ever. Also, it was not the first Ebola outbreak in history. There have been more than a dozen. Such an epidemic is preventable with vaccines. Over centuries, there have been many epidemics and many of them have threatened to wipe off an entire race or country. Such epidemics can be prevented with childhood vaccinations. Being reactive is futile when there is no solution to the problem. Being proactive and protecting oneself and others is the best way forward.
3. Keeping generations healthy
There are many deadly diseases and potential epidemics that have become irrelevant today. People don’t talk about them because those ailments have not surfaced in over fifty years and more. Kids today are not even conscious of some deadly illnesses that had plagued our forefathers. This has not happened because those diseases have become extinct or that people don’t get affected by them anymore. Humans have not evolved enough to be genetically protected against those diseases. Humans are protected because of vaccinations. So, childhood vaccination is necessary to keep generation after generation healthy and safe. If one generation is not administered the necessary vaccines, the old terrifying diseases that can cause epidemics may surface immediately.
4. Lifetime protection
Childhood vaccinations are a onetime endeavor. The impact or the protection lasts a lifetime. It isn’t an antibiotic or a drug for thyroid that one has to keep taking till the last day of one’s life. Vaccinations are administered once and they would protect a child through teens, adulthood and old age.
The Cons of Childhood Vaccinations
1. Not effective always
Vaccines are regarded as effective in 95% of cases. This is well known. So for every thousand kids who would be administered a vaccine, around fifty would be at risk of being unprotected. These fifty kids would be vulnerable to the diseases and ailments that the vaccine is supposed to protect them from. It has been seen over the last four generations that vaccines are more effective than that and almost no cases of vaccines being an utter failure have been reported. But the fact is that vaccines can fail. When they do, it would be sheer bad luck for those who get affected.
2. Misplaced sense of security
Childhood vaccinations often make parents and kids believe that they are safe from everything. Even if a child has been administered a vaccine for a particular purpose, it is necessary that other steps are taken to ensure that the child doesn’t get exposed to the risks of developing a disease or ailment. The moot point is that parents should always be careful about what their kids are doing, what they are getting exposed to and if there are any warning signs of something unnatural or unexpected. Actions must be taken and medical intervention should be sought immediately.
Parents should not believe that simply because their child is vaccinated, they would not be at risk of anything untoward. There was an incident in Minnesota not too long ago where more than three hundred kids were diagnosed with whopping cough. Whopping cough has a vaccine and yet three kids died and more than a hundred and seventy kids had to be hospitalized. Now, the three kids who died were not vaccinated, which proves that vaccination is a lifesaver. But more than a hundred kids were vaccinated and yet they got affected. So the threat of falling ill does exist even after vaccination, although chances of fatality are negated.
3. Side effects
Childhood vaccinations haven’t been proven to have any long term side effects. But there would be some immediate issues. Fever, vomiting tendencies, irregular metabolic rate, lack of sleep, some discomfort and hormonal imbalances are common. These are temporary side effects and most kids recover fully in just a couple of days.
4. Unsubstantiated claims
There are many who don’t believe that vaccination is the sole reason for the eradication of certain diseases. For instance, many argue that polio has been done away with because of better hygiene, state of the art healthcare, proactive parenting and timely medical intervention. Diets and genetics are also considered to have played a role. Now, assuming that such unsubstantiated claims are true then vaccination is not the only hero. The proponents of such claims state that there is no study to have inferred vaccination being the only reason for the eradication of several diseases. No study has taken into account the long term and large scale impact of changes in lifestyle, genetic evolution and many such factors that directly affect childhood.
5. Lack of choice
Parents should be allowed to choose if they want their child to be vaccinated or not. Many states do consider religious beliefs, health compulsions and certain schools of thought for parents to not opt for childhood vaccination. But most states make it imperative and public schools would almost always ask for a record of the vaccinations and even the timeline that shows the latest shot reports. Such imperative requirements infringe on the basic freedom of parents and even kids. There is a lack of choice. If one has to conform to many kinds of needs and requirements such as schooling and even healthcare, then one has to opt for childhood vaccinations.
Vaccinations Are Unavoidable
There can be endless debates on the pros and cons of childhood vaccinations but the truth is that there have been no reasons, certainly not substantiated, to not opt for vaccines. There are wild claims and propaganda but none of them really matter. Religious contexts and philosophy should not be brought into this as they are different spheres. If reality is to be taken into consideration, then vaccines have changed things and made kids, and when those kids grow into adults, safer and healthier. Until there is a reason that makes vaccinations undesirable, in a scientific way, parents must opt for those harmless shots that can save a life. Then again, providing parents the freedom of choice is the politically right thing to do.