Immunization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Immunization - Essay Example Religious conviction has been cited as one the reasons that parents can reject vaccination. Religion teaches that the human life is sacred, and it is wrong to inject toxic substances into the bloodstream of a healthy child. Apart from being toxic, the substance also has side-effect such as seizures, paralysis or even death. The CDC states that all vaccines have a risk of an anaphylaxis in about one per million children (â€Å"Vaccines ProCon.org,† 2015). Moreover, vaccines contain harmful ingredients like thimerosal, that is an organic mercury linked to autism. It is also important to note that mandatory vaccination infringes religious freedoms. Some of the ingredients that are included in the vaccines are considered immoral in the religious circles. Some of MMR, HepA and chicken pox vaccines are cultivated from two fetuses aborted in 1960s (â€Å"Vaccines ProCon.org,† 2015). Most religions are against abortion and hence vaccination using those vaccines directly or indirectly endorses abortion. On the other hand, rejecting vaccination on the basis of the religion poses a great danger to the society. Community immunity depends on a critical portion of the community being vaccinated (Herlihy & Hagood, 2012). Hence, in case of an outbreak, most members of the community will be protected and will not contract the disease. Vaccination also saves parents their time and money. It is less costly in terms of time and money to prevent a disease than to cure it. The side effects of vaccines are mostly rare, and hence, the risk of vaccinating is lower than the risk of rejecting immunization. Lastly, vaccines are capable of saving children lives. Vaccines have been found to be very effective in preventing diseases and rejecting vaccination result to exposing the child to an unnecessary danger. The CDC recommended immunization schedule for children between 0 to six years is as follows (â€Å"CDC - Vaccines - Child Immunization