Vaccination
The first recorded vaccination was invented by Edward Jenner in 1769. This was a massive
accomplishment helping bring modern medicine to where it is now. However, with all the recent
controversies arising, are (especially mandatory) vaccinations necessary? Before looking at the
following points discussing whether New Zealand should have mandatory vaccinations its important
to see what a vaccine really is. According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, vaccines
contain the same germs that cause disease. (For example, measles vaccine contains measles virus,
and Hib vaccine contains Hib bacteria.) But they have been either killed or weakened to the point
that they do not make you sick. Some vaccines contain only a part of the disease germ. A vaccine
stimulates your immune system to produce antibodies, exactly like it would if you were exposed to
the disease. After getting vaccinated, you develop immunity to that disease, without having to get
the disease first(Do I quote this?) (1). The following points that discuss whether New Zealand should
have mandatory starts with the violation of human rights. The second point is the idea of presentday vaccines and coverage rates. The third point is discussing whether mandatory vaccines are
necessary, accompanied with certain risks that incur when receiving vaccines. The final point of
discussion is the benefits of vaccines. Please note that While this presentation will present data of all
age groups, the focus will be on children and infants as this is where vaccination is important.
Scope 1
Firstly, is the discussion of how creating mandatory vaccines is a breach of human rights. One of the
main reasons mandatory vaccines are sometimes frowned upon is the idea of how choice is taken
away from a human being.
(Scope 2 EXTREME DRAFT AT THE MOMENT- extremely informal now without in text references )
In contrast to this, is the discussion of present-day vaccines and the coverage rates currently in New
Zealand. Trypanophobia, the name for extreme fear of hypodermic needles, is also the most
common way of receiving vaccines. Fortunately for those not wanting to receive “the jab”, present
day medicine has created multiple pathways of as the website vaccines today dot EU discusses, in
some circumstances it's possible to inhale, use a nasal spray, or even consume vaccines with a
Listerine strip style product. Even when having to receive the good old jab, to lessen the physical or
mental trauma, the needle doesn't necessarily have to be that intimidating long piece of metal.
Innovations from this include the skin injector- a much shorter needle or the microneedle patch as
well as a micro-injector, which still has the same amount of pain but reduces the stress and anxiety
of getting stabbed. So coverage, what is this and why is it measured? Well coverage is as the
Ministry of Health defines it as is, the percentage of children who’ve received all of the target
immunisations on the national childhood immunisation schedule for their age. Vaccine coverage in
New Zealand since its introduction in the early 20th century has been an important part of a child's
life. This is due to the fact that not only is the individual protected but they in turn protect their
community, or the herd. This is basically indirect protection given to those who’ve chosen not to
receive immunisations, either due to sickness, such as leukaemia or choice due to lack of education.
In a community, those who’ve received immunisation act as a shield rather than a carrier spreading
sickness. Meaning if most of the “Herd” have immunity the few who haven't are protected.
Vaccination Coverage is usually measured by ethnicity and also grouped by age. The following 3
graphs will discuss vaccination coverage of 6 month infants over different ethnicities. The following
data was derived from the Ministry of Health with the first two column graphs discussing the
coverage rate per ethnic background. At 90.6 percent and The highest percentage, those of Asian
backgrounds seemed to make sure their infants were on top of their vaccinations.The lowest
percentage at 63.3 percent were unfortunately those of Maori descent. When looking at the
population of each ethnicity, New Zealand Europeans have the highest number of babies eligible,
while those of the other category have the least number of 6 month old infants eligible. The final pie
graph simply shows the total percentage of those eligible infants, who have received vaccines
required at 6 months of age-being 78.5 percent. unfortunately those who’ve been eligible have
turned out to be at 21.5%.
References
1. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. “Basics of Vaccines.” Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 14 Mar. 2012,
www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd/vpd-vac-basics.html
2.