Why Vaccinations are Essential in Modern Society (Research Paper Sample)

The Importance of Vaccines

Garcia-Montero et al. (2021) define a vaccine as a biological substance introduced into a healthy body to stimulate the production of antibodies to provide immunity against a single of several diseases. Vaccines function by inducing the immune system to produce antibodies without causing the infection. According to the World Health Organization, vaccines prevent more than 3 million deaths globally (WHO, 2022). However, the international health body also highlights that vaccination hesitancy is a significant threat to global health. It is noteworthy that vaccination of vulnerable populations such as pregnant women, children, and the elderly is vital to reducing preventable deaths. Notably, the recent Covid-19 pandemic has demonstrated the importance of continuously working towards more effective vaccines and increasing access to vaccines. Vaccinations are crucial for several reasons; they protect individuals and households from potentially fatal diseases, protect communities by cutting the chain of spreading, and reduce or eliminate a particular disease if enough people get vaccinated for that specific disease and save people's lives all over the world.

Discussion

Vaccinations are a very critical stage of protecting individuals from ill-health. Notably, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, since launching the global polio eradication initiative in 1998, the annual polio infections have declined by 99.9 percent (CDC, 2021). The number of infections has reduced from approximately 350 000 yearly infections. It is also noteworthy that the WHO announced the eradication of type 2 and type 3 polio infections in 2015 and 2019, respectively. According to the health organization, approximately 18 million individuals would be paralyzed by the disease if the initiative was not launched. Polio is not the only viral infection and deadly infection. However, the severity of its consequences highlights the importance of vaccinations to reduce and eliminate its spread and negative health consequences.
According to the WHO, vaccination is critical for increasing the ability of the community to fight infections by creating herd immunity. Herd immunity refers to lowering the potential of a virus or disease spread by vaccinating a significant proportion of the community. According to the institution, herd immunity is crucial because it reduces the threat of infection to vulnerable populations (Anderson et al., 2021). For instance, during the recent pandemic, the lack of knowledge of the potential risks to vulnerable groups such as children, the elderly, and expectant mothers significantly inhibited their vaccination. However, governments and healthcare organizations called for the young and healthy population's immunization to reduce its spread. Therefore, despite the lack of knowledge and evidence on how to protect these vulnerable populations, they were protected through herd immunity. It is noteworthy that the international organization also prohibits exposure to individuals to these diseases to create herd immunity as it is likely to result in unnecessary infections and deaths.