By Anthony Jauregui
Senior Staff Writer

Throughout the history of the earth there have been numerous viral outbreaks such as the Bubonic Plague, American Plagues of the 16th Century, and Myspace. Each time we were affected by viral outbreaks, we weren’t prepared. Now that we’re prepared, people don’t want to use them. Unfortunately, when those events occurred, we were not prepared for them.
Now, science has advanced so much that we are prepared for viral outbreaks of measles and smallpox and such. But, now some parents are denying vaccinations for their children because there is speculation that vaccinations cause autism and other health disorders.
Though most of these are speculation, parents continue to deny vaccinations because they heard a rumor going around that vaccinations cause illnesses. Or, that the government is behind this conspiracy to infect the world.
Hey, we live in a free country where you can do whatever you want with your kids, but there are consequences to not having your child vaccinated.
According to the California Immunization Coalition, “During outbreaks unimmunized children may be mandated into quarantine or isolation. Simply not being vaccinated could mean that your child care or interaction with others until the outbreak is over”. If there’s an outbreak and you nor your child are vaccinated you pose a threat to the rest of the community.
I don’t think it is worth the risk, nor hassle to deal with school districts and universities when you do not have vaccinations. After all, we need immunization records to attend college.
According to a blog from Dr. Jennifer Raff, who holds a Ph.D in anthropology and genetics, in regards to rumors that are made to discourage people from getting vaccinated, “Some are doing it for profit, trying to sell their alternative remedies by making you afraid of science-based medicine”. She also adds, “But as a certain astrophysicist recently said, ‘The good thing about science is that it’s true whether or not you believe in it.’”
For some time, Jenny McCarthy was on the anti vaccine bandwagon because her child had autism. Now, she’s saying she was never anti-vaccine. The Anti-vaccine coalitions had McCarthy, an ex playboy model, as their spokeswoman. At least the pro-vaccinations side has scientists and non-playboy models.
The backlash against vaccinations is from people who have a bone to pick with them and their effects. There are a myriad of blogs and forums of parents saying they are bad because they make children sick. Then there are families that have been living without vaccines for generations without so much as a cough.
People should not risk the consequences of not getting vaccinated just because they heard of some conspiracy that they cause sickness. Vaccinations are like an employee who works extremely hard bending over backwards for a manager, but gets immediately steamrolled when he does one thing wrong. Vaccinations were amazing until someone got sick and blamed doctors. We should not ignore what vaccinations have done for our world.