Mandatory Vaccination - a Necessity for All US Citizens despite Their Freedom of Choice - Literature review Example

Mandatory Vaccination: A Necessity for All U.S Citizens Vaccination is the process whereby an antigenic material is administered in the body of a person to stimulate the person's immune system such that the body will develop adaptive immunity to the identified pathogen (Reagan-Steiner, Yankey, Jeyarajah, Elam-Evans, Singleton, Curtis & Stokley, 2015). A person can be vaccinated against pathogens causing smallpox, measles, polio or even tetanus. Vaccinations are essential to all citizens of a given nation. However, many people and religious organizations fight against certain forms of vaccinations, and they tend to prevent people from getting vaccinated. Professional nursing requires a balance between knowledge, skills and evidence-based practices. Principles such as altruism, human dignity, integrity, social justice, and autonomy play a significant role in determining vaccination activities in a societal setup. Perhaps every citizen, for example in the United States of America has individual rights such as the freedom of choosing the kind of healthcare. Callery (2018) succinctly argue that people should not violate their freedom of choice or put religious and cultural beliefs that are against vaccinations over the health status of their bodies or their children bodies. Therefore, the United States of America ought to mandate vaccination for all the citizens despite their freedom of choice. Vaccination practices are safe and are conducted for the benefits of all citizens. According to Craig, Lahey, Dixit, and von Reyn (2018), nurses and other health practitioners carrying out vaccinations are altruistically motivated to carry out their duties. Perhaps, altruism is the moral practice and principle of concern for the general happiness of other people (Craig et al., 2018). Many people who argue that vaccinations are not safe are not altruistically motivated in the sense that they think vaccinations are carried out to test new drugs or test how certain viruses operate in a human body. Many myths are raised against vaccination practices, to the extent of other people saying that vaccinations are conducted to reduce human population or human productivity (Wessel, 2017). Despite all the myths surrounding vaccination, the truth remains that the whole act is safe for all the people. For instance, Abara, Qaseem, Schillie, McMahon, and Harris (2017) succinctly point ought that the United States of America has the best post-licensure surveillance policy that makes vaccinations extremely safe. According to Abara et al. (2017), there is no need for individuals or religious organizations to speculate that treatments are not safe for the United States of America's citizens. Therefore, the community ought to be guided by altruism by taking different forms of vaccinations. Perhaps, self-interest is more influential to the act of adapting vaccinations. The government thus ought to mandate vaccinations to all citizens and the people ought to altruistically act in receiving treatments of any kind, knowing that they are taking immunizations for self-interest. Vaccines are meant to conserve human dignity, and all nurses morally carry ought these practices. As Wessel (2017) cites, many people fear that vaccines can give a person the disease that is being prevented. The myth is invalid since human dignity and integrity principles guide vaccinations. According to Winter (2018), human dignity is a subject of paramount importance as far as public ethical practices and responsibilities are concerned. Therefore, human dignity refers to the exclusive rights of an individual to be ethically treated, valued and respected. Nurses who carry ought vaccinations are certified, and they are subject to comply with the Nursing and Midwifery code of conducts, which dictates that human life ought to be respected at all costs (Kangasniemi, Pakkanen, & Korhonen 2015). Therefore, all the United States of America's citizens should not resist any vaccination that is mandated by the government since they are assured of their health security as far as professionalism in caregiving, and patient treatment is concerned. Mandating vaccination by the government is a sign of self-governance of the United States of America. As Luyten, Dorgali, Hens, and Beutels, (2013) cites, autonomy in moral, political or bioethical philosophy context refers to the capacity of an individual to make an informed or an un-coerced decision. Perhaps many nations advocate for freedom of choice on matters concerning health care. Maybe the United States of America ought to be autonomous when it comes to the issue of vaccination. The United States of America's administration should independently decide to mandate vaccinations for its citizens despite the influence of private organizations or non-governmental organizations which may continuously campaign advocating for the citizens' rights such as freedom of choice. Perhaps all the United States of America's citizens should be corporate in their thinking and be autonomous in selecting what is best for them as far as vaccinations are concerned. The United States of America's governance should make strict decisions to ensure that their legitimacy when it comes to vaccination issues are concerned is well enforced. Mandating vaccination for all citizens is a sign of social responsibility by the government thus a stimulant for societal justice (Almgren, 2017). Almgren (2017) succinctly defines social justice as a concept of just or fair relations between an individual and the society. Therefore, social justice is critical as far as distribution of wealth, privileges and opportunities within the nation are concerned. Vaccines such as influenza illness and hepatitis A and hepatitis B are costly. Many people who don't have health insurance may find it challenging to receive special vaccinations against these infections. Therefore, the United States of America's government has a responsibility of offering universal treatments to its citizens. However many citizens will argue that they do not need the vaccinations, but they ought to reflect on the danger they are causing the others by refusing to get vaccinated. The society thus should be socially just in the way they receive vaccinations. Perhaps the government should be just enough to ensure that every person gets protected. Therefore, the United States of America's government can ensure justice in healthcare and maximum responsibility in caregiving, only by mandating all the citizens to get vaccinated against the specific illness, regardless of their religion or their cultural beliefs. Therefore, the United States of America's government needs to mandate vaccinations to all the citizens. The U.S government should not allow freedom of choice to put the lives of the whole populations in danger. Vaccines save human lives and many parents who are lulled into a state of void complacency ought to be informed on the need of vaccinating their children. All the information that many people use to justify the need for vaccine refusal is flawed and considerably unscientific. Perhaps people should be autonomous in the way they argue when it comes to vaccination decisions. The United States of America's government also should autonomously act when it comes to matters concerning the citizens' health. The Government should be corporately responsible and should exercise social justice when carrying out vaccination activities. Perhaps all people ought to understand that vaccinations are carried out with the highest integrity, and the nurses who carry out vaccinations are moral and professional. Therefore, the United States of America's government has to mandate vaccinations for all its citizens. References Abara, W. E., Qaseem, A., Schillie, S., McMahon, B. J., & Harris, A. M. (2017). Hepatitis B vaccination, screening, and linkage to care: best practice advice from the American College of Physicians and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Annals of internal medicine, 167(11), 794-804. Almgren, G. (2017). Health care politics, policy, and services: a social justice analysis. Springer publishing company. Callery, P. (2018). International Reflections for the United States Health Care Improvements. Craig, S. R., Lahey, T., Dixit, A., & von Reyn, C. F. (2018). Altruism, Scepticism, and collective decision-making in foreign-born US residents in a tuberculosis vaccine trial. BMC public health, 18(1), 535. Kangasniemi, M., Pakkanen, P., & Korhonen, A. (2015). Professional ethics in nursing: an integrative review. Journal of advanced nursing, 71(8), 1744-1757. Reagan-Steiner, S., Yankey, D., Jeyarajah, J., Elam-Evans, L. D., Singleton, J. A., Curtis, C. R., ... & Stokley, S. (2015). National, Regional, State, and Selected Local Area Vaccination Coverage Among Adolescents Aged 13-17 Years-- the United States, 2014. MMWR. Morbidity and mortality weekly report, 64(29), 784-792. Luyten, J., Dorgali, V., Hens, N., & Beutels, P. (2013). Public preferences over efficiency, equity and autonomy in vaccination policy: An empirical study. Social Science & Medicine, 77, 84-89. Wessel, L. (2017). Vaccine myths. Winter, S. F., & Winter, S. F. (2018). Human dignity as a leading principle in public health ethics: a multi-case analysis of 21st-century German health policy decisions. International journal of health policy and management, 7(3), 210. Read More