Introduction
“The covid-19 vaccine roll out is a controversial topic, that’s led to many heated debates amongst family and friends” (Pros and Cons of a Mandatory Vaccination Policy para. 1). The main problem of modern society, which is the most acute, is the pandemic of a new coronavirus that is gaining momentum. Many measures have been introduced to reduce the deleterious effects of the disease and its further spread. However, the most promoted measure, besides self-isolation, is considered to be vaccination. This raises the question of whether vaccination should be a mandatory measure in such a situation. This paper looks at vaccination of the population as an effective way to combat Covid-19 disease. Among the main positive factors in support of compulsory vaccination is the creation of collective immunity, which will help to reduce the incidence of the disease.
Coronavirus Characteristics
First, it is necessary to have a complete understanding of such a disease as coronavirus infection. Therefore, this disease is transmitted by airborne droplets, hence can be spread through coughing, sneezing and in some cases even through the breathing of an infected person to another. Characteristic features of the virus are the occurrence of respiratory failure, pneumonia, loss of sense of smell, and many other symptoms similar to the flu and a bad cold. The risk group during a coronavirus pandemic includes people with chronic illnesses and the elderly. Moreover, Covid-19 infection occurs with even the slightest contact with a sick person, which contributes to its rapid spread. All of the above factors make it necessary to introduce preventive and prophylactic measures to help control the disease.
To better understand why it is necessary to vaccinate the world’s population against coronavirus infection, people can turn to history. Over the years, the vaccine has become a tool for fighting various human infections and diseases that can reach large-scale epidemics. It is because many people in today’s society are vaccinated against diseases such as polio or rubella that the level of deleterious effects of these organisms is virtually nil. A more striking and relevant example is how, at one time, the widespread incidence of influenza was virtually eliminated, thanks to the vaccination of residents and the acquisition of immunity to the disease.
Mandatory Vaccination
The safety of vaccination against the new disease affecting the planet has long been proven by numerous studies. This is due to the fact that the basis of the injected drug is taken adenovirus, which the human body encounters in such diseases as colds. Furthermore, this kind of virus has no ability to reproduce in normal cells. In addition, adenovirus is characterized by the presence of a deciphered part of the virus genome, not the coronavirus itself. Thus, when vaccinated, people are not carriers of the disease and cannot get sick or infect others. The introduction of adenovirus into the body leads to the formation of human immunity, as there is a protective response and the production of antibodies.
Multiple sources point out that, to date, vaccination appears to be one of the most effective ways to combat the pandemic. It is noted that the body’s reaction to the Covid-19 vaccine is no different from that which may arise from any other drug. Among the possible symptoms are fever, headache, weakness and discomfort at the injection site. This response of the human body is completely normal and only lasts a couple of days. The main effect of the Covid-19 vaccination is to transform the human immune system so that the body can recognize and target pathogens. The main result of the vaccination is considered to be an increase in the body’s resistance, but how each person’s system will respond to the innovation. The state of a person’s immune system, which can be characterized by the strength of their resistance to disease or the presence of chronic disease, play a significant role in the end result from vaccination.
Many people deny the existence of the pandemic and the virus as such, but this is the wrong position. There is plenty of evidence that the coronavirus has its own negative effects and can be fatal in some cases. Moreover, one should not be hammered about the serious contribution and sacrifice that medical professionals make to combat the disease. These are the people who will cool the vaccination procedure in the first place to protect not only themselves, but also the people around them. Furthermore, passing the compulsory vaccination has no effect on the habitual life of a person, but only positive consequences. Thus, with this tool to fight the pandemic, people gain control over the virus, making it manageable, which ensures the safety of their health and well-being. This aspect becomes especially important for the protection of people at risk, for whom the disease can unfortunately become fatal.
At the moment, the media is making an especially big fuss about compulsory vaccination of the population. This causes anxiety and excitement among the population, as these sources of information tend to exaggerate the present. However, on the other hand, the media can be a useful tool for spreading awareness about the importance of undergoing this procedure. Knowledge has to be disseminated through them that the acquisition of collective immunity plays a decisive role in the fight against the disease.
As already noted, vaccination is especially important for health care workers in society. For example, the media and social media in the United States are full of headlines about the introduction of compulsory vaccination against the coronavirus. The surge of illnesses in the country during the summer had a strong impact on the planned easing of preventative measures and policies in the country. This led President Joe Biden to announce the introduction of the vaccine for all government employees and to demand that other sectors require staff to undergo the procedure.
This rule especially applies to people who work directly with the infected part of the population. For health care workers, this method of protection is most needed. This is because they are exposed to the virus every day and can be the root cause of infecting other patients. Literature shows that “vaccination protects individuals from covid-19 and reduces the risk of transmission of disease to others” (Hayes and Pollock 374). Furthermore, this requires strengthening their immunity and health by undergoing a vaccination procedure.
The coronavirus pandemic has had a profound and irreversible impact on all areas of modern human life worldwide. Vaccination is then one of the most effective ways to combat the disease, preventing its spread and creating a collective immunity (Tregoning et al. 626). That is why it is necessary to provide people with the necessary knowledge to improve the epidemiological situation on the planet. Despite all the above positive aspects of the population vaccination procedure, some factors need to be mentioned separately, as they are of particular value in consideration of the research question.
The first important factor in combating Covid-19 is to vaccinate the largest portion of the population. This must be done to provide protection and reduce the spread and impact of the disease. Therefore, this aspect implies the use of epidemiological data to show the population the dynamics of the disease in order to awaken in them the desire to fight the pandemic. For this purpose, a social approach to problem-solving can be used, which can be particularly effective in the case under study.
Another argument for the introduction of mandatory vaccination is the fact that this action will ensure the removal of the blockages established all over the world. This action is particularly important for businesses and educational institutions. Reducing the number of people who become ill and effectively rolling out the vaccination program will help increase and improve the economic performance of countries by putting people back to work and making industry more productive. The development of infection control policies can play a crucial role, as it will also help to open up organizations that provide educational services. This is especially important because distance education in some cases is ineffective or cannot be applied at all.
The main obstacle to fighting the adoption of compulsory vaccination may be the fact that compulsory action may conflict with the rights of citizens. Due to this fact the level of indecision and refusal to undergo the preventive procedure increases. There is no doubt that respect for human autonomy and self-determination is a paramount human value. The driving force behind any government decision must be fairness to the population. However, it is the view that the imposition of compulsory vaccination impedes the personal boundaries of individuals that prevents immunization against disease.
However, it must be remembered that a pandemic is not a phenomenon affecting only individuals, it affects the whole of mankind and depends on the adoption of a common, balanced effort. It is important to disseminate information about the disease and about the positive consequences of universal vaccination. Moreover, the less burdensome a process that reduces the universal risk, and the more it is blocked, the stronger the ethical reason for compulsory vaccination.
The concept is that it takes a certain number of people whose bodies are able to resist the disease to reduce transmission and prevent the spread of the coronavirus. This leads to a policy of safety and the importance of compulsory vaccination as an effective weapon against Covid-19. However, there is an opinion that this concept cannot have guaranteed results, because it is temporary and may lead to a recurrence of the outbreak later on. On the other hand, it is noted that collective immunity can be maintained by adhering to vaccination periods at least for the first time. Technology is moving forward, and scientists are already working on a vaccine that will be sufficient to create a long-lasting and effective immunity.
Thus, collective immunity may also depend on such an aspect as co-dependence on how many people on average one infected person infects while the organism is contagious. At the same time, it is worth considering that if this value is greater than one, exponential increase in the incidence of disease and vice versa can be seen. Among the ways the government reduces the incidence of the disease and maintains the level of the uninfected population, several important measures have been taken. These include keeping a social distance, wearing masks, and transferring most employees to remote work. Moreover, avoidance of mass events with large crowds, hygiene and immunization are also among them.
In the fight against coronavirus infection, there is also the important issue of informed choice, which directly affects the legal aspect of people’s lives. As already mentioned, everyone has the right to choose as a basic right, and no one should violate it. Similarly, this factor applies to what drug a person decides to use to acquire immunity from the disease. Thus, it is important to take all possible measures to achieve a situation in the world in which people understand precisely that getting vaccinated is critical and do not feel threatened. This is also due to the fact that there are still members of society who do not trust the published data on the effectiveness and testing of a particular vaccine. So, if vaccination is made compulsory, without making sure that people fully agree with it, it could lead to many legal problems, which could be a major obstacle.
At the same time, one major fact must be considered that whether or not to be vaccinated is up to each individual. However, to completely defeat the pandemic people need to achieve a high percentage of collective immunity. This requires that approximately eighty percent of the world’s population be vaccinated and that one person infect less than one person. Vaccination is the primary and most important way to achieve these statistics and to avoid severe disease and death. Thus, vaccine denial puts not only one person’s health at risk, but also the health of everyone around them.
Among the arguments against the introduction of compulsory vaccination is also the fact that even after the vaccine is administered, many people continue to get the coronavirus again. This raises doubts about the long-term effects of the vaccine and its effectiveness in the future (Malik et al. 3). The doubts in this case are caused by two aspects, the first of which is that time is needed at this point to fully investigate the durability of the vaccine. Not enough time has passed since the beginning of the pandemic to determine exactly how long before immunity can develop that will resist all modifications of the virus. Thus, the emergence of new strains of the coronavirus also makes it difficult to find a single salvage drug that fits all cases. However, “strong international coordination and cooperation between vaccine developers, regulators, public health bodies and governments will be needed to ensure that vaccines can be manufactured in sufficient quantities and equitably supplied to all affected areas” (Andreadakis et al. 306). Therefore, many different solutions to this problem are being developed around the world, and with everyone’s cooperation and in-depth research, the right drug will be available in time.
Conclusion
Moreover, complete and serious control of the COVID-19 pandemic requires collaborative vaccination at all levels of modern society. This is because such a global and pervasive problem requires commensurate solutions. Among such methods should be accessible and free vaccination, which could be a key factor in solving the problem under study. On the other hand, despite the undeniable benefits of vaccination against COVID-19 in reducing the incidence and transmission of the virus, the issue of mandatory nature is still controversial. There are a lot of different arguments for and against, and each person decides individually what to do. However, it must be remembered that the sooner humanity gains collective immunity, the sooner the pandemic, which has already claimed many lives, will end. Therefore, once a person has been vaccinated, he or she will become resistant to the disease and its possible modifications and will be able to protect those around him or her from the disease.
Works Cited
Andreadakis, Z., et al. “The COVID-19 vaccine development landscape.” Nature Reviews. Drug discovery, vol. 19, no. 5, 2020, pp. 305-306.
Hayes, Lydia, and Allyson M. Pollock. “Mandatory covid-19 vaccination for care home workers.” BMJ, 2021, p. 374.
Malik, Amyn A., et al. “Determinants of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance in the US.” EClinicalMedicine, vol. 26, 2020.
“Pros and Cons of a Mandatory Vaccination Policy”. Mooreplay, 2021, Web.
Tregoning, John S., et al. “Progress of the COVID-19 vaccine effort: viruses, vaccines and variants versus efficacy, effectiveness and escape.” Nature Reviews Immunology, 2021, pp. 626-636.