Say Yes to Vaccines

I enjoyed reading the post "Trading Freedom for Security?" from the blog "The Blue Bonnet Opinion." I myself was just reminded of the mandatory vaccine I have yet to receive when I logged onto the ACC website today.

Having grown up in a household that has always been very careful about the contents of medicines and vaccines for religious reasons I can definitely relate to where my classmate is coming from. However from my own research when this law was first passed, I discovered it is not exactly mandatory. While I plan to get the vaccine and not exempt myself for these reasons, the law has provided exemptions for students that have a medical or religious reason for declining the vaccine.

The vaccine debate is definitely a double edged sword. As my classmate stated, it seems that our personal freedoms are being taken away by making something "mandatory." However, you have the consider the fact that it is a CHOICE to attend college, and with any choice, you have to weigh the requirements. For example, maybe I want to accept a promotion at work, but that promotion makes it mandatory that I work 12 hours per day and miss time with my family. No one is forcing me to take the promotion, and if I do, I understand that those are the expectations.

Similarly, I disagree with my classmate and feel that not only has the law provided a way out in cases of religion or health, but you simply don't have to attend college in Texas, it is a personal choice. I feel this law is quite different than the executive order for the HPV shot that was mandated. Many if not all of the diseases that we are required to be vaccinated for are communicable, and can be transmitted very easily, infecting the population. You can't sneeze and give someone HPV. Forcing a Guardasil shot may or may not be a violation of personal freedoms, but this is not, lawmakers simply have to consider how this affects the general population. I appreciate my classmates statistics, and she makes a valid point that at this time Meningitis has not been a huge problem. Unfortunately, it doesn't take long for a disease to become an epidemic and I feel that rather than controlling citizens as she suggested, lawmakers are simply trying to protect the population.