Immunizations. Is it absoultely necessary?

[Anonymous]

OK, there are two sets of people who don't vaccinate these days. The completely lower-class, negligent parents who don't care, and the hyper-educated ones who are concerned about vaxes for their kids, for whatever reason. Other than that, everyone's getting vaxed. My kids are all vaxed, on time, so I have no dog in this non-vax fight. I am personally very pro-vax, but also know that people die from them.

So I think parents should be allowed to choose not to vax if they sincerely believe that's what's best for them. The parents who are making informed decisions about vaxing or not, even if they are wrong, are in the small minority of the non-vaxers. It's the negligent parents you should be worried about, and trust me they are not out there applying for religious exemptions.

Herd immunity thresholds are lower than you may think; for example it's 75% for mumps, 80% for polio. I think that leaves room for the few who will claim a religious exemption because something in their gut tells them it's best to delay or skip vaccinations.

[Anonymous]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1204755/Girl-4-dies-diagnosed-mumps-despite-having-MMR-jab.html

Clearly, herd immunity can be compromised. How about this waiver: "I am choosing to free ride on herd immunity. I acknowledge and agree that my actions compromise herd immunity. In the event that any person becomes ill and dies from this disease who wasn't old enough to receive the applicable immunization or who did not receive complete immunity despite having been fully immunized for such person's age, I, along with all other free riders, agree to be jointly and severally liable to the family of such person for their loss."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP here. I should add that I find people who use religious exemptions falsely to avoid vaccination are contemptible, so I am not actually advocating that. Some people indeed take advantage of this when they actually have no actual religious opposition, so this contemptible choice is available to you.

Contemptible? Really?

Not the PP, but yes. They are lying about something that can hurt other children. If you think it is better for your child not to be vaccinated, that doesn't give you the right to expose other kids by lying. It is selfish, wrong, and contemptible.

Herd immunity isn't being compromised by the people who are choosing to delay or skip vaccinations for their children. So nobody's getting hurt.

not necessarily those in the "heard" but . . .

What if my older child is part of the herd but my younger one is yet to be immunized? If some child in my older child's class is not vaccinated and carries (or worse yet, comes down with) some disease, my younger child is at risk.

This has been discussed before. Younger children are at risk.

So if you choose not to vaccinate your child, you run the risk of harming my child. In this case, both ignorance and selfishness go hand in hand.

[Anonymous]

PP -meant to write HERD (sorry, grammar police!)

[Anonymous]

Please consider home schooling your child.

[Anonymous]

Homeschooling???? She needs to immunize her child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Homeschooling???? She needs to immunize her child.

I think PP was being facetious.

But I agree - immunize!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Agree strongly with prior poster. If I had to choose between two schools - one of which allowed non-vaccinated kids - I would absolutely choose the one with ONLY vaccinated children. Vaccines confer a large-scale public good that one or two unvaccinated kids can undermine for all the others. And by the way, there is a movement afoot to prosecute people who lie about their religious objections - one I would fully, strongly support.

No one will ever have the ability to demand to know what my personal religious or ethical belief system is. Have you forgotten, we do still live in this great nation called USA. You who don't love the freedoms that most of us enjoy here, do have the option to consider other places. I HAVE lived in different cultures and would NEVER trade ours for any of their's, in spite of our imperfections. Let's work to protect our safety WITHOUT instituting a system of massive control over our fellow neighbors.

[Anonymous]

Immunizaton is so important. I am in favor of taking legal action against those who lie about their religious objections. We need to keep our children safe and healthy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1204755/Girl-4-dies-diagnosed-mumps-despite-having-MMR-jab.html

Clearly, herd immunity can be compromised. How about this waiver: "I am choosing to free ride on herd immunity. I acknowledge and agree that my actions compromise herd immunity. In the event that any person becomes ill and dies from this disease who wasn't old enough to receive the applicable immunization or who did not receive complete immunity despite having been fully immunized for such person's age, I, along with all other free riders, agree to be jointly and severally liable to the family of such person for their loss."