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Ameia Denos
Professor Baird
English 1010- Section
31 July 2015
Synthesis Paper
My topic is on vaccination awareness. Are vaccines necessary in maintaining your
health, or is the reason vaccination is widely encouraged a political issue? The reason I find this
issue pressing is because Im finding more and more discussion on being informed before you
vaccinate. I have very forward thinking friends and being a mother myself, maybe I should take
interest in the mandated vaccinations that my daughter needs every so often.
One viewpoint is that vaccines are unnecessary and even harmful. There is a lot of
misinformation that vaccines are side effect free, or that side effects are generally mild. When
you get a vaccination you receive a VIS, which is a Vaccine Information Sheet that a few people
ever read. The sheet is very brief in informing that vaccinations have side effects. There is in
fact a probability of death and other debilitating outcomes. According to Cathy Jameson, Those
who might be profiting from vaccinations may not be saying what needs to be said very clearly.
But if we whove witnessed the side effects say it clearer, better, louder, so be it(Par. 14). Cathy
Jameson encourages you to Know your rights, do your homework, ask questions, weigh the
pros and cons, look things up on your own, and read the package insert (Par 15). Jameson
argues that when you vaccinate, you can never un-vaccinate; meaning if you choose to be
injected, whats done is done.
A large concern to most parents today is how many vaccines we ought to administer to
ourselves and our children. While most appreciate the capacity of vaccines to help maintain

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childrens health, they were nonetheless concerned about the rising number of vaccines their
children were expected to receive. Further complicating things, is if parents wanted to refuse a
vaccine, such as the chicken pox, they cannot do so because Merck combined the varicella
vaccine with a vaccine of the measles, which is more debilitating and needful to receive. Many
public health officials and medical authorities detest skeptics and make allusions to religious
objection when those of us refuse vaccination. From a parents point of view, Mark Largent
would rather accept the consequences from a communicable disease than be willing to accept the
consequences of having made the child sick by giving them a vaccine. This attitude was nicely
demonstrated in the Readers Comment section of the New York Times website in response to
a story on personal-belief exemptions for vaccines.
However, there are those who adamantly uphold vaccination and refute any bad publicity.
The Catholic Digest argues, Vaccines are needed every bit as much today as they have been in
the past (Par. 1). Benefits from vaccines include disease reduction in the United States. Even if
we dont see the need for vaccination from certain diseases, evidence has proven that in areas
where parents rejected a vaccination for themselves or their children, the disease have become
prevalent again. Vaccines today are the safest theyve ever been. Vaccines actually undergo ten
years of research and testing before being issued a license to administer to the public. They also
refute that autism has any connection to receiving vaccines.
After all I have learned, I think vaccines are widely encouraged because they are
federally funded and therefore receive endorsements. Although vaccinations are needful, I
believe that we may be creating unnecessary vaccines and that is why I encourage research.
Those who may disagree with me should know that the varicella vaccine which is for

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chickenpox, can only prevent chickenpox in a persons youth and that person may be susceptible
to contracting a more harmful form or the chickenpox in their adolescence.
In conclusion, there are many views on vaccines. It is your responsibility to do research
and formulate an opinion. If you do choose not to vaccinate, you may be required to find
exemption. However, for your safety and the safety of society to prevent communicable
diseases, you should take full advantage of the medicine we have. Understand that even if you
do not see a need for a vaccine, it may be because vaccine has eradicated the disease for the time
being.

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Works Cited
Jameson, Cathy. "Vaccine Side Effects: What Every Mom Should Know." Age of Autism.
1 Dec. 2013. Web. 27 July 2015.
"Are Vaccines Safe?" Catholic Digest 1 Apr. 2010: 92-98. Print.
Largent, Mark A. Vaccine the Debate in Modern America. Baltimore, Maryland: Johns
Hopkins UP, 2012. 21-27. Print.
Maron, Dina Fine. "Fact or Fiction?: Vaccines Are Dangerous." Scientific American. 6
Mar. 2015. Web. 27 July 2015.