Stricter Penalties for Parents Who Don't Vaccinate Their Children

This article discusses the pros and cons of parents vaccinating their children and explores the penalties already in place for parents who don't vaccinate. It also argues for stricter penalties and provides reasons why.

Running head: SOCIETY AND CULTURE.
Society and Culture:
Name of the Student;
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Author Note:

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Introduction:
Vaccination is the practical process in which the children are injected with chemical
compound of medicines which helps their immune system to fight with diseases. These
vaccines help the immune system to fight against the external agents and germs and boots up
the power of the white blood cells for fighting against those germ cells. It should be the duty
of the parents to safeguard their children from the dread of diseases when their immune
system is developing. The hypothesis of this report is whether there should be stricter
penalties in Australia for parents who does not vaccinate their children. The report involves
the discussion of a few questions that demand a focus on. It studies the pros and cons of the
parents who treat their children, the penalties that they need to suffer if they do not vaccinate
their children, as well as should there be more strict policies that must be implemented on the
parents who do not care to immunize their children.
Discussion:
What are the pros and cons of parents vaccinating children?
Vaccination is recommended by The Centers for Disease Control (CDC). There
should be immunization of 29 doses of 9 vaccines along with a yearly flu vaccine for the
children till six years of age. However, there are proponents as well as opponents who have
their views for and against this vaccination. Some people say that the immunization for the
children is one of the safest and the most significant health development of the 20th century.
On the other hand, some people oppose this and claims that the use of vaccination would be
lowering the natural process of the body fighting against germ cells.
The positive impact of the vaccination involves the process saving the lives of the
children, and preventing dreadful severe diseases from entering their body. According to a
study, childhood vaccines are almost 90-99 percent effective in preventing infections2. The

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ingredients like aluminum, thimerosal and formaldehyde used in the vaccines are used in less
amonts. This prevents diseases and is not harmful to the children1. The process of vaccination
is stated to be safe by a lot of medical organizations such as CDC, Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) and others. The adverse reactions to the vaccines are infrequent. The
parents refuse to vaccinate their children even though the vaccines protect the immunity of
the community. In the interview, Julia Leask explains, "Vaccines are estimated to save about
3 million lives each year by preventing diseases like whooping cough, polio, diphtheria and
measles4. The vast majority of scientific literature supports the benefits of vaccines, experts
etc. The HPV vaccine is given to males and female students in year 7 or 8. It has already
reduced the incidence of pre-cancer in young women in Australia. This vaccination program
began in 2007, and so we are already starting to see these effects in young women who would
otherwise have gotten early cancer. We expect to see impacts on other genital, anal and oral
cancers and wart viruses prevented by this vaccine."
Not only the vaccines save lives but also they save money. It is cost-effective and is
continuously monitored for safety. Vaccination provide economic benefits to the society, and
from the estimation it have been proven CDC have vaccinated children who were born in the
year between 1994 and 2018, which eventually yielded the net savings by almost $406 billion
and also savings the societal costs2. The evidence gathered all across the world by The Center
for Disease Control shows that high HPV vaccine coverage helps to drastically reduce the
prevalence of HPV disease in a relatively short period. The following graph depicts the
impact of this vaccination in Australia.
1 Australians' attitudes to vaccination are more complex than a simple 'pro' or 'anti' label 2017, The
Conversation, viewed 20 June 2019, <http://theconversation.com/australians-attitudes-to-vaccination-are-more-
complex-than-a-simple-pro-or-anti-label-74245>
2 Heyworth, K 2015, Vaccines: The Reality Behind the Debate, Parents, viewed 26 June 2019,
<https://www.parents.com/health/vaccines/controversy/vaccines-the-reality-behind-the-debate/>.

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Fig: Impact of HPV vaccination in Australia3
On the contrary, vaccination has several disadvantages as well. It can cause severe
and often fatal side effects, including the grave risk of life-threatening allergic reactions. The
vaccines may contain harmful mixtures of unknown chemical compounds which however is
used in excess manner, could harm the children adversely5. The parents must decide whether
to vaccinate their children or not since the medical decisions for their children should be their
responsibility. Several religions oppose mandatory vaccines. In these cases, the vaccination
often tends to infringe upon the constitutionally protected religious freedom of the
individuals. Furthermore, there are some particular chemical mixture of medicines in the
vaccines whose use could be considered to be immoral6. The primary cons of the vaccination
are that it is unnatural and external, which prevents the children from fighting against the
diseases naturally. Also, moist diseases that the vaccines target are relatively harmless which
makes the gentle vaccination4
3 Source: www.cdc.gov. , 2019
4 Rettner, R 2012, HPV Vaccine Safe, But May Raise Risk of Fainting & Infections, Live Science, viewed 26
June 2019, <https://www.livescience.com/23617-hpv-vaccine-side-effects.html>.

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However, even though the process of vaccination contributes several positive aspect to the
health care of the children, due to some negative impact which are associated with the health
of the children, it may be harmful. The parents should have the right to take the medical
decisions for their children, and vaccination should be considered for only those diseases that
are still prevalent in Australia.
Furthermore, from the survey conducted, a majority of 53.3% of the respondents
believed that it is highly unlikely that vaccinations could cause any long term side effects on
children. Majority of the population still believes that treatment which is provides for fighting
against the diseases, is safe and effective, saves time and money for a family, and also
protects future generations. However, they also believe that the risks of natural infection
outweigh the risks of immunization7.
What penalties are there already for parents who don’t vaccinate their children?
Vaccination has been made mandatory for the children in Australia and the Australian
parents have to abide by the policy of “No Jab, No Pay.”5 There have been major financial
penal charges against those parents who do not vaccinate their children. According to a
report, the parents had been penalized if they did not protect children and they would lose
almost 737 Australian dollars from their payment annually until 20186. Since the year 2018,
they have been losing A$28 every fortnight from their tax benefits. The Australian
Government has incorporated the "anti-vaxxer" movement after it had been seen that there
had been a steady increase in the refuse to immunization on behalf of the children below the
5 First No Jab, No Play laws introduced into Parliament 2019, SA Gov, viewed 25 June 2019,
<https://premier.sa.gov.au/news/first-no-jab-no-play-laws-introduced-into-parliament>.
6 Stephenson, Niamh, Shefali Chaukra, Ilan Katz, and Anita Heywood. "Newspaper coverage of
childhood immunization in Australia: a lens into conflicts within public health." Critical Public Health 28, no. 4
(2018): 472-483.

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age of 77. The reduction in the payments acts as a constant reminder for the Australian
parents to keep their children vaccinated and immunized from diseases. According to the
Government of Australia, the parents who do not protect their children are not supported by
public policies or medical research. They are not even supported by the taxpayers in the form
of childcare payments8. The Australian Medical Association had realized that the significant
savings imply that the parents do not take their children for vaccination and this is the reason
the Medical Association wants the children to be safely vaccinated, and there should be the
expenditure of the same amount on those of the Family Tax Benefits5.
According to the interview of Julia Leask, it has been found out from the statistics that
she stated, that the small improvement in the increase of overall immunization rates is a result
of the strategies of the Government that is aimed to improve the coverage from the
implementation of schemes to promote public awareness3. An immunization nurse in another
interview says, “Vaccinating child is very important and can reduce any pandemic disease,
which can lead to serious health consequences.”
From the survey conducted, a majority of 73.33% of the respondents claimed to be
aware of the penalties put in place for parents who would not vaccinate their children. Owing
to this, 93.33% of the respondents claimed to agree with the "No Jab, No Play" bill that has
been passed by the Government. Upon being asked what kind of penalties should be levied
onto not vaccinate their children, a 26.67% of the respondents claimed that there should be
fines, exempting unvaccinated children from childcare, jail for parents, and no penalties at
all, indicating that there has been an error on the part of the respondents in this case.
7 Baidawi, 2017, 'No Jab, No Play': How Australia Is Handling the Vaccination Debate, New York Times,
viewed 20 June 2019, <https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/24/world/australia/vaccination-no-jab-play-
pay.html>.

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However, 53.3% of the respondents agreed that unvaccinated children should be exempted
from childcare.
Should stricter penalties be put in place for parents who don’t vaccinate their
children and why?
From the recent analysis, there should be stricter penalties for those parent who are
not responsible about the health of their children and those who deliberately debate against
the fact that vaccinate their children would not be essential. The Australian Government
effectively has issued penalties, and the parents lose their money from their tax benefits.
However, there is still an increase in the decision of the parents to not to immunize their
children from preventable diseases8.
According to the interviewee Julia Leask, the most effective approach when it comes to
vaccination is to make the immunization mandatory so that there are no possible loopholes
that the parents can take advantage of, having a negative attitude towards vaccination. The
higher they get the allowance to opt for the treatment, the higher they will exempt from the
immunization of their children. She does agree that there should be choices given to parents
regarding this. However, she says, "Choice is limited or removed when there is an immediate
potential harm to the child. So in public health, we need to balance the need for individual
choice against the benefit of a social good produced by having high vaccination rates. What
makes us decide where that balance lies? In looking at the evidence for whether taking away
choice is going to make a difference to vaccination rates in the group for whom there is going
to be the biggest impact. When we reduce autonomy and therefore increase coercion, we
must always first ask ourselves if there is a better way that doesn't interfere with the choice."

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Non-vaccination had been pretty rare earlier, and there were not enough preventable
disease transmission to raise such claims. In the modern generation, the victims of dreadful
diseases have increased, and this is the reason why the children should be vaccinated when
the time is right so that the condition is not contaminated further8. The parents should enjoy
the right to take the medical decisions for their children, and the Government should not
interfere. But on behalf of the Government, it is mandatory to take care of the medical issues
of the country and to implement effective policies to prevent the diseases. There should be
stricter lawsuits in the legal circles on the potential liability of the parents who do not
vaccinate.
The parents who decide not to vaccinate their children should be sent to jail or must
be tried at court on the charges of child negligence9. There should be higher compensation for
those parents who have a tendency to neglect the safety of their children. Also, the children
who get sick because their parents did not could file negligence. On the other hand, another
reason to penalize the parents more would be that fact their illogical action are encouraging
other parents to consider the fact true and to abstain their children from the benefits of
immunization.
Conclusion:
Thus from the above discussion, it can be concluded that there should be stricter
penalties for the parents in Australia who don’t vaccinate their children. Although the process
of vaccination has a lot of cons, it has practical benefits as well, primarily because it saves the
lives of the children from any dreadful diseases. The Australian Government imposes
8 Beard, Frank H., Brynley P. Hull, Julie Leask, Aditi Dey, and Peter B. McIntyre. "Trends and patterns
in vaccination objection, Australia, 2002–2013." Medical Journal of Australia204, no. 7 (2016): 275-275.
9 Suraj, P 2019, What a teenager who got vaccinated against his parents’ will can teach us about anti-
vaxxers, Quartz, NYU Business, viewed 26 June 2019, <https://qz.com/1579023/how-people-become-anti-
vaxxers-and-how-to-stop-them/>.

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monetary penalty for the parents who refuse to vaccinate their children and they are often
exempted from their Tax benefits. However, there should be strict penalties for parents who
neglect their children's future and their health safety. From the interview which included Julia
Leask and Gulgina Omer, it can be concluded that those penalties for those parents who
consider the fact that not vaccinate their children is safe. According to Julia Leask, there
should be strengthening of the legislation for vaccination but keeping in mind the constraints
that prevent the parents from affording vaccination for the children. The findings of the
interviews effectively support the hypothesis. The limitations of the meetings had been
limited sample size, and the results had been qualitative, without any proper quantitative data
to prove the findings. To prevent the lowering of the immunization rates in Australia, there
should be appropriate legislation on the part of the Government along with the policies that
already exist and strict actions should be taken against them who do not abide by the plans.

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Bibliography:
www.cdc.gov. 2019. "HPV | Why HPV Vaccination Should Be A Priority | CDC." Cdc.Gov.
https://www.cdc.gov/hpv/partners/establishing-partners/prioritization.html.
The science of immunization 2019, Australian Academy of Science, viewed 24 June 2019,
<https://www.science.org.au/learning/immunisation-and-climate-change/science-
immunisation>.
Suraj, P 2019, What a teenager who got vaccinated against his parents’ will can teach us
about anti-vaxxers, Quartz, NYU Business, viewed 26 June 2019,
<https://qz.com/1579023/how-people-become-anti-vaxxers-and-how-to-stop-them/>.
Baidawi, 2017, 'No Jab, No Play': How Australia Is Handling the Vaccination Debate, New
York Times, viewed 20 June 2019,
<https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/24/world/australia/vaccination-no-jab-play-pay.html>.
Rettner, R 2012, HPV Vaccine Safe, But May Raise Risk of Fainting & Infections, Live
Science, viewed 26 June 2019, <https://www.livescience.com/23617-hpv-vaccine-side-
effects.html>.
First No Jab, No Play laws introduced into Parliament 2019, SA Gov, viewed 25 June 2019,
<https://premier.sa.gov.au/news/first-no-jab-no-play-laws-introduced-into-parliament>.
Australians' attitudes to vaccination are more complex than a simple 'pro' or 'anti' label 2017,
The Conversation, viewed 20 June 2019, <http://theconversation.com/australians-attitudes-to-
vaccination-are-more-complex-than-a-simple-pro-or-anti-label-74245>
Heyworth, K 2015, Vaccines: The Reality Behind the Debate, Parents, saw 26 June 2019,
<https://www.parents.com/health/vaccines/controversy/vaccines-the-reality-behind-the-
debate/>.

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Beard, Frank H., Brynley P. Hull, Julie Leask, Aditi Dey, and Peter B. McIntyre. "Trends and
patterns in vaccination objection, Australia, 2002–2013." Medical Journal of Australia204,
no. 7 (2016): 275-275.
Stephenson, Niamh, Shefali Chaukra, Ilan Katz, and Anita Heywood. "Newspaper coverage
of childhood immunization in Australia: a lens into conflicts within public health." Critical
Public Health 28, no. 4 (2018): 472-483.