Among the numerous recent healthcare advancements, vaccines occupy a specific place for their unique benefits for individuals and society in general. They constitute a relatively cheap measure which has allowed to prevent the outbreaks of many life-threatening diseases throughout the world. Moreover, they play a critical role in achieving herd immunity protecting the most vulnerable people who cannot be vaccinated for safety reasons. Still, the increasing popularity of the anti-vaccination campaign is an evident trend nowadays, posing significant risks for society. Finding the right ways to treat patients’ fears and explain the benefits of vaccines is critical for any health care professional.
The presentation of arguments for the need for vaccination is a comprehensive process, which needs to account for various psychological and medical facts. First, it is reasonable to emphasize the overall advantages of this approach. The development of vaccines has resulted in a “68 to 100% reduction in preventable infectious diseases” (Michel, 2020, p. 1402). In addition, it is worth mentioning that although any medical procedure involves some risk, vaccines are subject to rigorous trials and monitoring during their development and application (Di Pasquale et al., 2016). Finally, emotional aspects need to be considered, as the fear of rear but severe complication can often outweigh the benefits (Zikmund-Fisher et al., 2016). Providing all this information to patients and emphasizing the advantages of disease prevention is a good practice for a health care professional.
The recommendations mentioned above demonstrate the complexity of the vaccination issue and the immense benefits they can bring. However, opponents also provide some argumentation which needs to be taken into account. For example, some published research may indicate the occurrence of severe diseases, as in the case of Wakefield’s study dedicated to the connection between measles vaccine and autism. Still, the relative publication was found biased and led to a dramatic increase in the cases of this infection (Di Pasquale et al., 2016). Other opinions, such as an introduction of a microchip in a coronavirus vaccine, are simply conspiracy theories without any scientific grounds (Goodman & Carmichael, 2020). Therefore, the communication of the true benefits of vaccines is incredibly valuable with today’s abundance of false information and a critical need to use them to stop the on-going health crisis.
References
Di Pasquale, A., Bonanni, P., Garçon, N., Stanberry, L. R., El-Hodhod, M., & Tavares Da Silva, F. (2016). Vaccine safety evaluation: Practical aspects in assessing benefits and risks. Vaccine, 34(52), 6672-6680.
Goodman, J., & Carmichael, F. (2020). Coronavirus: Bill Gates ‘microchip’ conspiracy theory and other vaccine claims fact-checked. BBC News.
Michel, J. P. (2020). The well‑known and less well‑known benefits of vaccines. Aging Clinical and Experimental Research, 32, 1401-1404.
Zikmund-Fisher, B. J., Wittenberg, E., & Lieu, T. A. (2016). Parental weighting of seizure risks vs. fever risks in vaccination tradeoff decisions. Vaccine, 34(50), 6123-6125. Web.