Vaccination Yes! Disease No!
Everyday, I read the news. I see various articles about people who refused the vaccination and later died from COVID. There are articles where people make interesting claims for not getting a vaccination ranging from it violates their religious beliefs, to it’s just a way for big companies to make money, to the threat for COVID is fake.
I find this whole thing interesting because in the past 60 to 70 years, the use of vaccinations has eliminated at least two diseases completely and have reduced the number of cases of other diseases completely.
If you look to the past, when small pox was prevalent, many who got it ended up with pox marked faces and other issues yet when the vaccination for it became commonly used, the number of cases decreased to the point they declared it gone. Another vaccine that has made life easier was the one to prevent polio. There is at least one older member of the family who suffered through polio and was in an iron lung for a while but managed to recover. Others were not so lucky. They either ended up disabled or dead.
Since then, they’ve developed vaccines for most childhood diseases ranging from chicken pox, mumps, German measles, measles, whooping cough, and so many more diseases that children are now living better and longer lives.
At one point, if you wanted to travel overseas, you had to prove you’d been vaccinated against small pox and/or yellow fever. In addition, schools required proof that every child had been vaccinated against these diseases before they could enroll. No one thought it violated their rights because it was just something you did. You did it, your neighbor did it, and everyone you knew did it.
No one spread rumors about how vaccinations would cause Autism or anything else. Honestly, most mothers figured the good of making their child take the vaccination outweighed any proven side effects. Yet when people decided to stop having their children vaccinated against normal childhood diseases, the number of cases increased accordingly.
Maybe it’s time that society revisits the idea of vaccinating everyone again for the greater good rather than focusing on themselves. Do the rights of the individual outweigh the good of society? Have we reached a point where we will see children disabled, disfigured, and dying because we believe we must be first? Do people choose not to vaccinate because they feel as if they’ve lost control of their lives?
I believe in vaccination for the most part and will continue to do so but I admit that I do not run out and get every vaccination. I don’t get the Shingles vaccination because I had it and I do not rush out to get the flu vaccine every year simply due to the fact that I only seem to get the flu when I get the vaccination. As far as the rest of the vaccinations, I fully support them and yes, I am vaccinated against COVID. I am hoping to pick up a booster shot along the way.
Let me know what you think, I’d love to hear. Have a great day.
