Why are Vaccines Mandatory?
Mandatory vaccination is “our nation’s public health safety net... After all...[vaccines] are not 100 percent effective. A few vaccine failures or a few unvaccinated children are protected by high immunization levels...It is good for the health of all that we have uniformly high immunization coverage rates throughout our country”--Dr. Walter Orenstein, Director of CDC’s National Immunization Program
Herd Immunity
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Getting vaccinated prevents a person from getting sick himself and prevents the spread of disease. If an entire community is vaccinated except for one person, that person won't get sick because the disease cannot spread. Someone in a community of vaccinated people might not want to take the risk of having an adverse reaction to a vaccine. When many people decide to be protected by others, and the unvaccinated rate passes a certain point (usually 10-20%), then the disease will spread. Mandatory vaccination requirements solve this problem and help protect people with weakened immune systems.
From ABC News
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