By Abby Jansen
Vaccinations are often debatable to the American people due to the multiple positive and negative health effects of these treatments. Some citizens believe that the risk associated with vaccines, such as fatal side effects, are not worth giving to their children, while others argue that these side effects are so rare that the overall effect is more positive for children and families. Additionally, some state that the government involvement in their children’s health should not be allowed because the parents or legal guardians should make these decisions, not the government. Yet, currently, all 50 states require 29 doses of 9 vaccines for children ages zero to six in order to enter public education (gavi.org). Overall, vaccinations, aside from a few side effects, allow almost all children to live a healthy life without major illness or diseases, such as measles, hepatitis, varicella, and many others. Additionally, these treatments will help prevent the spreading of these illness within schools and communities. Thus, the possibility of spreading and receiving these viruses will be decreased due to more children being protected thanks to vaccinations. As a result, not only will the health of citizens benefit, but the economy and society will, as well.
As stated before, vaccines allow children to live a life with no to a few illnesses due to the protection. Thus, this healthy lifestyle will lead to children attending more schooling. Finally, with more education for a larger group of children and young adults, the future society will become more advanced due to the better learning available for students because they simply were able to attend school due to the lack of illnesses they obtained. For example, in the Philippines, children were positively affected with test scores due to the effect of vaccinations. According to Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance, test scores went up, on average, 0.5 standard deviations, or points stating how far away from average one is. Thus, with just one increase in standard deviation, earnings in future life will increase 8% for these children. Additionally, in Bangladesh, children who were vaccinated for measles in their first year were 9% more likely to attend school (gavi.org). Thus, with greater amounts of attendance in schools, economic problems and deals will be better solved due to more education and brighter minds of our future.While children are the group that are being physically and mentally affected by vaccines, families are also being affected yet in a financial way. Vaccines cost around $130 for families plus possible insurance coverage that can decrease this cost, as well (nytimes.com). Yet, while the seems like a large sum for only one dose out of 29, the money that is being saved by families and health systems cannot be compared. Stated by the Gavi, “Vaccinations lower care costs...saving up to $6 billion in treatment costs”. As a result, the family does have to pay a small amount of money compared the large chunk that they could be if their child was prone to these illnesses. Thus, allowing family and government to utilize money in other categories that could be beneficial, as well.
Finally, with healthier and more advanced citizens, comes a more sophisticated country. If the United States were to have outbreaks of illnesses and unstable health benefits, internationally, countries would not trust the U.S. Thus, trade between countries would be weakened. Without trade, 41 million citizens who work with international trading would be unemployed along with 300,000 companies being shut down. Lastly, the financial benefit of $1.3 trillion from U.S. exports would brought down substantially, leading to a decrease in individual and national benefits (uschamber.com).
Overall, vaccinations are essential to the public health in order to create a healthier future that will not only benefit the safety of citizens but also the financial stability of the economy. Without vaccines, unemployment rates would increase, the amount of trade would decrease, and ultimately, the world would be a more dangerous place to live. Understand the benefits for vaccines both for yourself and for the entire nation and that vaccines are economically justified.
To better understand the economics behind vaccinations, watch this short, informational video: Economics of Vaccinations.
Work Cited
Berkley, Seth. “The Power of Vaccines.” World Economic Forum, www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/01/the-power-of-vaccines-2/.
Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. “Economic Benefits of Vaccines.” Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, 1 Oct. 2014, www.gavi.org/library/audio-visual/presentations/economic-benefits-of-vaccines/.
Rosenthal, Elisabeth. “The Price of Prevention: Vaccine Costs Are Soaring.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 19 Jan. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2014/07/03/health/Vaccine-Costs-Soaring-Paying-Till-It-Hurts.html.
“The Benefits of International Trade.” U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 5 Apr. 2018, www.uschamber.com/international/international-policy/benefits-international-trade.
I agree with you. Vaccines are essential for children, adults, and a community as a whole. All the reasons you put up are logical. I would rather have my child live with side effects rather than having one dead. I have never actually read an article about vaccines based off economics, but only based off science and health. I never realized how it affected almost every subject.
ReplyDeleteVaccinations overall benefit the economy because they help lead to citizens having a healthier lifestyle and less of a chance of getting extremely ill. Although, vaccinations cost a large amount of money, in the long run they are worth the price paid. If people didn’t have vaccinations their would many diseases and illnesses breaking out, but because of the technology and medicine we have today that doesn’t happen as frequently. Vaccinations not only help live a healthier life, but also create a world safe to live in.
ReplyDeleteVaccines have been a controversial topic over the past couples years, due to the rare side effects some children experience from them. Economically looking at it, I think it is something that every family should look into. It is a cheap form of medicine that can later decrease the risk of an illness or disease for a child. With a low cost, it is affordable for many families, and if chosen it can help keep away the high cost that it would be to treat a disease or illness that your child could then get. Overall I think it is something to consider even though some may react bad to it because it can save money for that family in the future rather than spending a larger amount on further treatments.
ReplyDeleteVaccines can be a hotly contested issue, and no matter who you ask, you'll find they have a strong opinion on the matter. Despite this, I've never heard anyone discuss vaccines from an economic point of view. I thought your earlier statistics on vaccines affecting education were especially well chosen, as we know that education can expand the production possibilities curve by creating a more intelligent workforce. I also thought the inclusion of a more reliable economy was an interesting addition, but it could have been better expanded upon, perhaps with examples of situations where widespread disease has prevented an economy from engaging in international trade.
ReplyDeleteI agree that vaccinations are go not only for the health of our society, but also for our economy. It was mentioned that vaccines are less expensive than the illness that could come of not being vaccinated, and I feel this fact is underestimated greatly. It may be difficult for families to pay for the vaccines, but for those same families it would be virtually impossible to pay for medical bills if this illness is contracted. On the economy side, if more people chose not to get their children vaccinated then insurance companies will end up having to cover more and more illnesses, driving up the rates for those families that have healthy, vaccinated children.
ReplyDeleteEvery point you made here I definitely agree with. There really is no logical argument as to why vaccines would be bad for somebody's health or the economy. Someone could argue that getting a vaccine could give them bad side effects, but the likelihood of that happening is far less than them actually contracting the disease the vaccine would've prevented. This directly ties to the economics, as even though the cost of vaccines may be undesirable, they are just a small price to pay for a healthy life where one is not constantly in fear that they will contract some life-threatening disease. Additionally, you brought up the business and trade aspect of vaccines and economics. If the US decided to do away with vaccines, disease would be rampant, the workforce would be weakened, and countries would be hesitant to buy our disease-infested products which would drastically hurt the economy. ll in all, I think that vaccines are economically plausible because they allow society to progress with one less thing to worry about--and the small price a person must pay for that is well more than worth it in the long run.
ReplyDeleteTo answer the question, yes, mandatory vaccinations are economically justified. Even looking outside the economic standpoint, why wouldn’t you want your kids to be vaccinated? Along with this, there’s also the problem of people putting their trust in people they watch on tv or read their articles and blogs, and sometimes over the radio over the people who have dedicated their life to the research and development of vaccines and medical care.
ReplyDeleteFor the economic part, the question was answered in the article. While vaccinating everyone would be somewhat expensive, it would be more expensive to let people choose and then have those people pay exorbitant medical fees for their treatment of whatever preventable disease they get. To go along with this, vaccinating everyone provides assurance that people won’t be a safety hazard, or maybe even someone who could get sick and wouldn’t be able to do their job. This would allow economic efficiency to rise, as more people would be able to get a job, and stay employed.
There is always debate on if the government should be involved in parts of our lives, but I think being apart of the health sector is very important. By making sure all in our country are safe from disease it benefits the country as a whole. But, there is the moral side to this debate and if a family does not want to vaccinate their children, they should be educated on the benefits of vaccines first, and then decide. As for the economic side, with vaccines only costing around 130 dollars, I think that is better than the the thousands of dollars of hospital bills if the child would end up catching a disease.
ReplyDeleteI agree that vaccines should be mandatory, they will cause more students to grow up healthy and be able to affect the economy positively. I don't think that it even should be a debate because the only health risks is for people who are allergic to some vaccines. There is 0 proof that vaccines cause autism.
ReplyDelete- Kaustav Saha
DeleteI really enjoyed this piece. It's interesting to look at this issue from an economic standpoint, and your reasoning adds another dimension to the argument for vaccinations. Considering the risks not being vaccinated can cause for societal health and also its economy, there really is no reason to be against vaccination. It can only do good.
ReplyDeleteEconomically it is justified to help make these a requirement for everyone to get. This is due to the flow of money. If more people are purchasing them (which aren't very expensive since health insurance helps a lot) it will allow these companies look into finding a vaccination for other diseases. These vaccines are also life saviors. A great example of this was the polio epidemic that occurred. Once the vaccine came out to help fight against the polio virus, not only did the cases of the disease dropped drastically, but almost eradicated the virus itself.
ReplyDeleteI entirely agree that vaccines are entirely necessary to provide for the welfare of the public. The anti-vaccination movement was largely founded in part by fraudulent research done by people who got put in prison for doing so. More people are becoming ignorant of the real effects of diseases like Polio since they have been alive in a time where it has been eradicated. Sure, vaccines cost money but the medical care costs of having Polio are incredibly higher. Also, polio makes it harder to be productive work due to things like Paralysis and the Inability to breathe. Vaccines clearly have a positive economic impact.
ReplyDeleteI agree vaccinations should be mandatory because they are very safe and protective, Vaccines will involve some discomfort and may cause pain, redness, or tenderness at the site of injection but this is minimal compared to the pain, discomfort, and trauma of the diseases these vaccines prevent. Serious side effects following vaccination, such as severe allergic reaction, are very rare. The disease-prevention benefits of getting vaccines are much greater than the possible side effects for almost all children. Some parents don't want get kids to get vaccinated because they fear about side effects that rarely happen and doesn't happen all the time. So the parents are just getting worried over the effects that may rarely happen or not happen at all.
ReplyDeleteI believe that vaccines should be mandatory because they not only positively effect the recipient, but they also provide a positive externality. This is because when children are vaccinated, it makes it less likely that other children will contract life threatening diseases. Additionally, as you stated, while there is a cost in vaccinating children, the marginal benefit of doing so greatly outweighs this. Not only will it prevent major medical bills down the road but it increases school attendance as well as quality of life. For these reasons, it would be incredibly irresponsible to make vaccinations no longer mandatory because these "medications" strengthen our society and economy as a whole.
ReplyDeleteI agree that vaccines are vital for the health and safety of everyone. Vaccinations have always been a hot debate topic; with the news of parents not allowing kids to vaccinate in the news recently; there is has been a resurgence of this great debate. I feel it is economically justified to make mandatory vaccines; these mandatory vaccines can be used to help keep and prevent all types of diseases from measles to polio. Keeping the American people safe with vaccines should be a top priority of America.
ReplyDeleteI agree that vaccinations should be mandatory due to the fact that they help keep the community as a whole safe and healthy. Although they can cause some side affects, these side affects are not very common and therefore the benefits of the vaccines out-weight these side affects. Although a decent amount of people are against these vaccines due to the side affects, they don't truly understand how much more common and deadly the viruses would be in society if the vaccines were present. The viruses such as measles and even the flu would be much more prevalent and affect much more people. #chickenballfriday
ReplyDeleteAt first I thought this would be a stretch, to claim that the health of multiple individuals will affect communities education levels and thus, the economy in the future. But the argument you made is strong with lots of evidence to back yourself up. Sometimes we forget the difference between our school system and the education is poorer areas. Some kids go to school afraid, fearful of catching measles, we are fortunate enough to never go through that, being that we continue to get vaccinated. I think it’s important that you make your stance of a world wide viewpoint instead of focusing on the change for our nation.
ReplyDeleteThere were a lot of good points made in this article on vaccinations. The debate whether to vaccinate children or not has been a touchy subject for a long time because of its interference with religion and family cultures, but it’s interesting to see how it will play out further into the future. The interesting thing about vaccines is that they are not that expensive to create at all, which helps for the case of universal vaccines for all children under the age of 8. However, they do take awhile to develop into a fully functioning form. If these vaccines are issued to these kids, then their chance of catching a terminal or chronic illness decreases drastically, which increases their chance to attend further schooling and work for a job in the economy. Healthier people means more people, which also means more jobs and people contributing to the economy. On the flip side, people who work in healthcare get paid from people being sick, so even though some ignorant people refuse to vaccinate their kids, they are the people still employing physicians for treating common diseases that can easily be cured from a vaccine.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the other commentators because I believe that vaccinations are a benefit to society. Based on actual scientific studies, vaccinations have a very low chance of harming the person, and are proven to help people ward off preventable diseases. The arguments that are laid out by those who are against vaccinations are simply being persuaded by a man who is in jail now, claiming that vaccines cause autism. This science was proved wrong. Government provided vaccines is a good idea, as they are a necessary good for the public. We have seen the comeback of measles and other diseases. It does not have to be this way, and if we have to pay a bit more money in order to keep the country healthy, I would consider the cause worth it. Vaccines will also help people live longer, allowing them a more productive and healthy life to spend. What people need to know is that vaccines are not malicious, and are promoted because of their positive effects. If there were very serious negative drawbacks, the government would not allow doctors to administer them on children: it would be against the law. This item is a public good and should be promoted, and while they would cost taxpayers in order for everyone to get vaccinated, it is well worth it.
ReplyDeleteI agree that vaccines should be mandatory because they are very important to our children's health. Plus, side effects of these vaccines are so rare that it doesn’t make much sense to not get vaccinated simply because of the fear of side effects. When it comes down to it, I’d rather have some dumb side effect than measles.
ReplyDeleteI agree that vaccinations are better for the greater good. They prevent outbreaks and provide a worry free life. Kids who have not been vaccinated will have a harder time getting into a school that will accept them, miss more school days due to sickness, and probably get bullied for being one of those “unvaccinated kids”. Also if you think about it, paying for 29 vaccinations is going to be a lot cheaper than paying for hospital bills when you get the measles or hepatitis. When thinking about giving your cild vaccinations, you can’t think about what the side effects might be. You have to think about the consequences of NOT giving your child vaccinations. They could get really sick and die anyway AND pass the illness onto everyone around them who isn’t vaccinated and everyone around them who isn’t vaccinated. The cycle goes on and on. I think it is a good idea for the government to control this and set regulations who getting vaccines.
ReplyDeleteAlthough there has been much controversy over vaccinations, I agree that vaccines should be mandatory. Like stated in your article, vaccines prevent children from getting many diseases which can create a healthier public in the future. I never realized how vaccines impact the stability of our economy,if many people choose not to get vaccinated then unemployment rate will increase. Ending in a very dangerous environment to live in, so ultimately I believe that everyone should choose to get vaccinated.
ReplyDeleteVaccines are an essential part of improving a nation's health and thus they should be mandated by the government as well. This would increase the accessibility to the vaccines and help inhibit the spread of most of these containable diseases. Government involvement is controversial, but when the health of individuals - especially when discussing contagious diseases - can also affect the people around them; so it should be better for there to be government interference.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, that on an economic standpoint, the benefits of vaccines outweigh their cost. They may be painful to receive, and have potential side effects, but the guarantee of immunity from a life threatening vaccine outweighs the chances of the side effects. Vaccines will provide for a more stable economy, a more educated population, and a lower mortality rate. These will help improve the economy in the long run. As for the argument that the government should not regulate vaccines due to it taking away the choice, children without vaccinations pose as a national threat to those who cannot receive vaccines, whether it be due to age or health standards, by an illness that can be easily avoided. Overall, vaccinations help the economy as well as public health standards.
ReplyDeleteVaccines are an excellent example of a necessity that the government should require, because their administration is a matter of life and death, and thus relates to our fundamental human rights. After reading trough the published research that suggests a connection between autism and vaccinations, it seems to me that the connection is forced and the evidence faulty. Yes, there are extreme cases in which individual patients have disorders that result in harmful reactions to vaccines, as revealed by a few case studies, but it is for these individuals that everyone who can be vaccinated in this country should be. Ever since the introduction of vaccines, we have nearly eradicated diseases like Polio. However, since the the anti-vax movement has grown, some of these illnesses have brutally rebounded, notably Measels, and sick people who are ineligible for vaccinations are the unfortunate targets. At the end of the day, vaccination is not an individual choice because its impact is not limited to the individual, but instead puts society as a whole at risk.
ReplyDeleteIt is just too risky, both on a humanitarian level as well as economic, to not take vaccinations. As you mentioned the costs of potential diseases that come as a result of not getting vaccinated are much more than than the cost of a simple vaccine. But are people willing to take that risk to save a few bucks? I don't think that's the main reason why people won't get vaccinated, they aren't that much, it's more of a personal belief regarding the safety of them. If you can convince everyone of the safety of vaccines you won't have to force people into taking them. If I were the government I would spend more money marketing the safety and effectiveness of vaccines instead.
ReplyDeleteVaccines have always been a debatable topic from the health perspective. Should you vaccinate your kid or not? Most vaccinations tend to be successful, and make the patients' immune system more effective at fighting off certain diseases or viruses. And on the other side is the idea of vaccinations harming the patients. I'm remaining noncommittal about this because I honestly don't want to throw my hat into the ring on this extremely controversial topic, so don't bug me about it later. Most people never really look into vaccinations from an economic point of view. I never even thought that creating vaccines would boost trade between the US and other countries, but I suppose the US has to get those vaccines from somewhere the viruses and diseases are more easily found. Some families don't do vaccinations either not because they don't want to, but because they just don't have the money. If vaccines were in fact mandatory, how would those families pay if they don't have enough money? Or would they get the vaccines using tax money, or some kind of government program? I wouldn't really know.
ReplyDeleteIt is really interesting I have never looked at vaccines in this way. I believe that vaccines are essential for a public health and safety and it now see it is necessary as well to keep our economy running smoothly. However, something interesting to ponder is that if there wasn't such a prevalence of vaccination would there be opportunity for investment is more public health facilities, and in cures? Would it lead to more jobs for people to build these investments and work in these institutions? Economically I can see it either way which is interesting however I do believe vaccines are necessary for our saftey.
ReplyDeleteIt is really interesting to read about this economic side of vaccinations. I know a lot about how they affect the overall health of populations but not how that would affect the economy. Although anti-vaxers, don't necessarily care about the overall benefit of vaccines on either the economic or health related spectrum, I wonder if vaccines have any downfall to the economy or if any of these arguments have been ripped apart by the anti-vax community? I also wonder if this is how the government determined that vaccines should be mandatory.
ReplyDeleteWith the more recent debate in regards to mandating vaccines, a lot of chaos has spread. Many people who disagree with requiring vaccines to children only see the one side, that their children are at possible risk of illness due to the shot. Even after FDA approval, and many many scientific tests proving these vaccines prevent more than they would cause, many people’s judgement remain clouded. Seeing the economic standpoint on vaccines brings a whole new light to this topic, and just more reason to continue with vaccines. The long term effect this simple task has on not only the individual but the society as a whole, is important to understand. However, since our society will forever contain the stubborn people who refuse to help their families, this argument will remain present even with all the true and prominent points such as the ones mentioned in this article.
ReplyDeleteI found it interesting how you talked about multiple aspects of the economy it would benefit, such as education, lowered care costs as a result of prevention of future ailments with the vaccines, and the more sophisticated country we could have with less outbreaks. You don't hear to often about the economic side of vaccinations so I enjoyed reading this piece because I was able to gain a bit of a perspective on how vaccinations benefit people in more than just one way, both economically and healthwise, and when one person receives an inoculation multiple others around them are benefitted as well.
ReplyDeleteI have definitely never heard this point of view on vaccines before. Yes there's so much debate and controversy about whether they are good or bad for you and parents debating whether they want to or don't want to get their kids vaccinated. That's all been going on for a while but this was so interesting. You touched on so many different ways this would change and impact the economy, ways I would have never even thought to consider. This was such an interesting post to read since everyone is so opinionated on it already and you just brought so much more to think about to the table. Who knows maybe you will change peoples mind based on your information. For sure an interesting read!
ReplyDeleteI would agree. If an outbreak were to occur, of let’s say measles (which is happening at the moment) because of anti-vaccination, that would cause a very large economic downturn. It should be mandatory for people to vaccinate their children because it protects not only theirs, but also other children from becoming infected with diseases that are easily preventable.
ReplyDeleteThinking from an economic standpoint, vaccines are sonmething that should be mandatory and can definitely affect the population both economically and medically. Scientifically, vaccines are shown to be attributes to a longer lifespan and a more efficient immune system for everyone. Because of these two factors, the labor force and the longevity of the labor force will increase. Now, lets consider a hypothetical situation. If a deadly pathogen or virus was affecting most of the population, and if the population was vaccinated against the disease, then the mortality rate of the disease would then decrease, causing less people to die from said disease.
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