Immunization and Coronavirus: Health Communication Research Report

This essay delves into the critical role of immunization in public health, with a specific focus on its relevance in the context of the coronavirus pandemic. It begins by defining immunization as the process of making an individual immune to infectious diseases through vaccination, emphasizing its historical significance in eliminating and controlling life-threatening illnesses. The essay discusses the benefits of vaccines in boosting the immune system and preventing diseases, highlighting their cost-effectiveness and accessibility. It examines the concept of herd immunity and its importance in protecting unvaccinated individuals, particularly in the absence of a COVID-19 vaccine. Furthermore, the essay explores the World Health Organization's (WHO) efforts in expanding immunization programs globally and the ongoing research and collaborative trials for COVID-19 treatments. The essay references several studies and reports to support its arguments, including parent's decisions on immunization, and the need for more information from healthcare professionals. The essay concludes by underscoring the importance of immunization as a crucial public health measure and the global efforts to combat infectious diseases, including the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Running head: IMMUNIZATION AND CORONAVIRUS 1
Communication of Health Care
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IMMUNIZATION AND CORONAVIRUS 2
Research
Immunization is the process by which an individual is made immune through the
administration of a specific vaccine to make him/her resistance to an infectious disease. The
immunization process is the most appropriate tool that has ever been proven to eliminate and
control a variety of life-threatening and highly contagious diseases. The vaccines boost the
immune system of someone’s body and protect it make a person invulnerable to subsequent
diseases (MacDonald et al., 2018).
Over many years, immunization has been the most cost-effective health investments and
easily accessible even by the vulnerable and hard-to-reach population. These vaccines have been
known to avert around 2 to 3 million deaths per year. The vaccine has contributed much in
today’s society, especially decreasing some of the infectious diseases in all ages of the
population. The elderly have benefited more through vaccination in both high- and low-income
countries. The main goal of immunization is to eradicate the disease. This ideal has been possible
since the disease like smallpox has been exterminated, leading to discontinuation of the
mandatory scheduled immunization program for smallpox (Pezzotti et al., 2018).
Childhood immunization is not compulsory in all countries, though it is a crucial aspect
of childhood prevention measures against life-threatening infectious diseases. The World Health
Organization (WHO) has expanded the program of immunization globally. A certain study
concerning the decision by parents to immunize their children showed that most of the parents
chose not to vaccinate any of their children. They based their informed decision on the
assessment benefits and the risk factors of immunization and accepted the responsibility of their
decisions. Most of the parent seems to demand more information about the pros and cons of the

IMMUNIZATION AND CORONAVIRUS 3
immunization process from the healthcare professionals and other health organizations (McNeil
et al., 2019).
Herd immunity is the subsidiary defense from the infectious illnesses that can occur when
the population is immune either through the immunity that was developed by previous infections
or through vaccination. The people who are not vaccinated or the vaccine did not stimulate
immunity can be protected by those around them whose immune had been triggered, thus acting
as buffers between the infected population and them. When the herd immunity is established in
the general public, therefore, the particular disease is eradicated (Gershon, 2017).
According to WHO, natural immunity can be generally attained through vaccination
programs. Since there is no recommended vaccine for COVID-19, the immunity to COVID-19
can only be achieved when 60% of the population will develop immune to coronavirus disease.
The WHO said that the first trial of the vaccine for coronavirus has to begin after China shared
the genetic sequence of the virus since the trial milestone for a vaccine has to take a minimum of
12 to 18 months for a vaccine to approved and availed to the public use (Sohrabi et al., 2020).
WHO has praised the worldwide researchers who are working collaboratively to evaluate the
experimental therapeutics systematically. These researchers use different methodologies to try to
come up with COVID-19 treatments. Several countries around the world have confirmed that
they will join WHO in solidarity trials while comparing the untested treatments with each other
(Ahmed, Quadeer & McKay, 2020).

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References
Ahmed, S. F., Quadeer, A. A., & McKay, M. R. (2020). Preliminary identification of potential
vaccine targets for the COVID-19 coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) based on SARS-CoV
immunological studies. Viruses, 12(3), 254.
Gershon, A. A. (2017). Is chickenpox so bad, what do we know about immunity to varicella
zoster virus, and what does it tell us about the future?. Journal of Infection, 74, S27-S33.
MacDonald, N. E., Harmon, S., Dube, E., Steenbeek, A., Crowcroft, N., Opel, D. J., ... & Butler,
R. (2018). Mandatory infant & childhood immunization: Rationales, issues and
knowledge gaps. Vaccine, 36(39), 5811-5818.
McNeil, D. A., Mueller, M., MacDonald, S., McDonald, S., Saini, V., Kellner, J. D., & Tough, S.
(2019). Maternal perceptions of childhood vaccination: explanations of reasons for and
against vaccination. BMC public health, 19(1), 49.
Pezzotti, P., Bellino, S., Prestinaci, F., Iacchini, S., Lucaroni, F., Camoni, L., ... & Rezza, G.
(2018). The impact of immunization programs on 10 vaccine preventable diseases in
Italy: 1900–2015. Vaccine, 36(11), 1435-1443.
Sohrabi, C., Alsafi, Z., O’Neill, N., Khan, M., Kerwan, A., Al-Jabir, A., ... & Agha, R. (2020).
World Health Organization declares global emergency: A review of the 2019 novel
coronavirus (COVID-19). International Journal of Surgery.