Ethics of the Anti Vaccination Movement
Expanded on from Midterm Report
First, let’s go over a brief history of the movement. As I talked about during the midterm report, the Anti vaccination movement has been going on ever since vaccinations were invented. As early as 1721, people against vaccinations bombed Reverend Cotton Mather’s house after he supported a vaccination campaign. Since then, there have always been those who don’t believe in the science behind vaccinations and try to disprove it.
If you’re interested in knowing more about the movement’s history, a detailed timeline can be found here: https://vaxopedia.org/2017/06/04/anti-vaccine-movement-timeline-and-history/
This video also gives a good history: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzvfpyyZO9o
The most famous push against vaccinations, and what has fueled most of today’s anti-vaxxers, was the studies done to connect vaccines with autism. These studies were fronted by Andrew Wakefield. While Wakefield claimed that his studies proved the connection, the results of his studies have been found to be skewed in order to get the outcome he wanted. In the world of pseudoscience, this is known as denialism. The results didn’t prove what the study hoped and so the researchers twisted the study so their points would be proven anyway.
In some interviews with Wakefield, he tries to back track that his study ever directly associated the measles or MMR vaccines.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RMMQJ4Vn_s
Whether or not this is true, the studies have still fueled a large part of the anti vaccination movement which has sparked outbreaks of measles specifically.
This article from the Washington Post details the rise in measles outbreaks: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/05/05/how-the-anti-vaccine-movement-is-endangering-lives/
It seems common sense that almost everyone should be getting vaccinated, but some people do have legitimate reasons. There are people who are immuno-compromised (a term I think we are all familiar with right now) who can’t get vaccines. They are still protected though through her immunity, which means that enough people around them are vaccinated and healthy so the people who remain unvaccinated are still safe from disease. This relates to the crisis we’re in right now. Many people are upset, fighting against quarantine, and refusing to stay home. There are even protests going on about it. But even though they aren’t in danger from coronavirus, immuno-compromised people (the same ones who cannot receive vaccines) are in danger if others don’t quarantine as well. It’s the same idea. You get a vaccine/quarantine not just to protect yourself, but those around you. It’s about having compassion and caring about others.
Other reasons people may not get vaccinated are because of religion. While most religious institutions, like the catholic church, recognise the need of vaccines, others don’t. The Church of Christian Scientists believe in using prayer for healing instead of other medicines. The question is is they should be allowed the freedom to do that. In 1994, a measles outbreak occurred among unvaccinated children in a Christian Scientist community. The US prides itself on all of the personal freedoms its citizens are allowed, but in the case of vaccines and public health, should that freedom still exist? There is a rise in people requesting vaccine exemption due to religious reasons. Is every case of this genuine or have people discovered a loophole that they are now abusing?
In other parts of the world, there is also a huge distrust of vaccines. In Africa, there have been fears that the western population has been trying to use vaccines to sterilize the native African population. And because of the history of social injustice and inequality there, you can’t blame them.
Here is an article that outlines all of these reasons really well and thoughtfully: https://www.historyofvaccines.org/content/articles/cultural-perspectives-vaccination
The major question to come out of all of this is how much is that personal freedom worth and should it be taken away? Even if you think that these reasons for not vaccinating are unfounded and stupid, can you at least acknowledge where they’re coming from?
Lastly, I’ll include a link to a John Oliver video. Because I know most of you won’t pay attention to my links, maybe John Oliver will tempt you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VG_s2PCH_c
Commented on:
https://cophilosophy.blogspot.com/2020/05/final-report-blog-david-hume.html?showComment=1588601522567#c2920826950782862951
https://cophilosophy.blogspot.com/2020/05/blogpost-first-draft.html#comment-form
I think I ‘ve scored 11 runs since we went to remote classes. I don’t remember how many I had before spring break but I know I only missed a few and I did pretty well on the test.
Your formatting was messed up, I fixed it partially but you'll need to remove the extra lines.
ReplyDelete"The major question to come out of all of this is how much is that personal freedom worth and should it be taken away? Even if you think that these reasons for not vaccinating are unfounded and stupid, can you at least acknowledge where they’re coming from?"--
ReplyDeleteI think our experience with COVID-19 should alter the formulation of this question, such that we cease thinking of the public health as something to be exchanged for freedom. Real freedom will factor in the rights of all to be free from the threat of pandemic due to others' reckless disregard of their civic responsibility to do all they reasonably can to avoid spreading viral infection. This will surely bear on the anti-vacc discussion going forward... or should.
Your point of how much personal freedom is allowable is something that always strikes my attention. It is easy to say that common sense says vaccines are great and that is the population's responsibility to get them, however where does the line get drawn? Do we want the government or anyone else to be capable of dictating what goes into your body? I personally do not willingly consent to give away my autonomy. For instance take a look at the Tuskegee study https://www.cdc.gov/tuskegee/timeline.htm
ReplyDeleteMy choice was to vaccinate I do think people are making a mistake not to, however I do not feel they should be forced.
As always, one shouldn't just side with one thing because it seems like common sense such as getting vaccinations over not. I certainly can understand where anti-vaccinators are coming from, as downside to a vaccination can be worse than the sickness itself. I do not think that we can live a life where we dictate our actions by not wanting to risk a one in a hundreds of million chance like a vaccination gone wrong, because by that logic pretty much all forms of travel are off limits. Going along with what Dr Oliver commented, I strongly believe that if a vaccination for COVID-19 were to be presented tomorrow, I don't know a single person who wouldn't line up to get vaccinated.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Dylan that there has to be a line drawn as to what the government can enforce. If the government was allowed to enforce vaccines, then what would stop them from enforcing other medicines. While I am not against vaccines, I think people should be allowed to choose whether or not to get them.
ReplyDeleteFor one, I never knew that some catholics practiced that but I'm happy to be enlightened. For two, I think that vaccination should be a mandatory practice as it would save countless people from getting unnecessarily sick or even die.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very tricky subject to tackle. I’m all for personal freedom until it infringes on another’s rights. It’s important to note that “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” are rights granted to us. We have to draw the line where people could lose their lives due to a preventable disease such as smallpox. If immunocompromised citizens are being put at risk, I can’t morally side with anti-vaccinators. Medical exceptions are one thing, but cynicism is a whole other beast. Section 6
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