Most Trending Topic 2022. Should COVID-19 Vaccination be made mandatory?

Halo steemians,

Greetings. It's a roller coaster of emotions and expectations for the year 2022 with the most trending topics being Vaccination and the high fuel prices in the world. It was recently announced that all parents in France will be legally obliged to have their children vaccinated from 2018

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Mandatory vaccination is something that has long been debated amongst many countries in the world. And just as any other urgent matter, the pros and cons have to be weighed and a verdict given by those in authority. Sometimes such verdicts can be decided by the parliamentary system. But the big question is; Are the views of the common man put into perspective or they don't have a choice? For this, some will argue that just as other public laws such as banning of public smoking or use of road safety seatbelts have been implemented, vaccination can also be passed without public consultation.

Come to think of it when a child is born, the parent is mandated to take them for immediate immunisation and this goes for all babies born. It is a mandate that parents have to concur with.

Why should Covid 19 vaccines be made mandatory for all?

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Vaccination is one of the most effective public health interventions in the world today because it has been tested and tried for centuries thereby promoting good health. Despite this advantage and fact, use of vaccines has not been well received in many countries of the world and this has been mostly because of public misconceptions about vaccine safety.

For many years there have been misconceptions regarding the authenticity of the drugs, with some being administered when they have already expired! This makes it very difficult for users to trust the system again. For instance in Uganda, there was an event in the 1980's where children were given shots for the polio vaccine but instead it was later announced that the drug was expired. This Act had strenuous consequences that have since haunted the Uganda health system for many years.

It is a habbit for people to take one bad thing out of the many good things that that been achieved, and just like the judgement in character, the bad will always overide the good for many people. We live in a society where mistakes cannot go unforgiven. And as soon as suspicion builds up, everyone comes up with their own notion to destroy the reputation of something they have not the slightest idea. It's called the 'Bandwagon Effect'.

However, as the vaccination rates decline, the disease begins to eat the society in larger than before numbers. It spreads like a wild fire. It is for this reason that many governments will not take chances with debating it. They make vaccination mandatory and this improves the health system tremendously.

In USA, it is mandatory for children over five years old in all 50 states to receive vaccinations before being admitted in any state licensed schools. Of course it is eminent that there will be people with religious beliefs that may not allow this, and so these are exempted from vaccination in most states. However other personal exemptions may not really be acceptable, unless they are health related.

The only problem with such a system is that the parents delay vaccination upto when the child starts school or may even opt for homeschooling instead of going for vaccination for thier child and this may lower the child's immunity while young as they have no defence system at that time.

In some countries like Australia, parents are required to meet immunisation schedules as they pay for childcare payments. Vaccination exemptions were officially scrapped for everyone in January 2016. In a report that followed some months later, more than 148,000 children who had not been up to date with their vaccinations met were registered.

What else can be done?

It is obvious that the mandatory way works. However, with improvement in sensitization, the masses can be won over. In most businesses, trust is very important. The user has to know the authenticity of the product or service in order to willingly use it. When something is forced, it appears that there is a hidden agenda and so many notions start to crop up as a result making the situation worse.

To add to this, the influencers can be used to pull the crowds. Influencers are people who have a fan base that trusts them for their opinions on certain subjects. These can help to give better options and lure massive immunization records. However, the influencers should fit that kind of campaign for instance religious leaders may be a good option for this event.

Another option could be easing access to such medical care services. In most if not all countries, it is free to get vaccinated. For Covid 19 many rollout vaccines are easily accessible and free. The topic of vaccination should also be put on the curriculum so that the future generations know how to deal with the available information other than act on hear say.

So what is the way forward as we go on? It to get vaccinated or face the consequences. In any case if one is not sure, they should not be forced to get the vaccine untill enough information has been given them and they are sure of the need of the vaccine. Thank you for reading. By-a.