Vaccinations and responsibility

The recent outbreak of whooping cough in Ravalli County (and now four other Montana counties) presents an interesting intersection between personal freedom and community responsibility.

The freedom part lies in the ability of people to avoid state- and school-mandated vaccinations. The avoidance is based on a variety of factors, from religious beliefs to personal choice to fear to real health concerns.

But skipping vaccinations has a cost to others that now is being clearly demonstrated in Montana.

Pertussis, or whooping cough, is easily preventable through vaccination.

But the lack of vaccinations on the part of many people has led to nearly 100 cases of the disease in Montana (in other places, it’s worse: Washington state has 800 cases in the past four months).

And it has led to serious restrictions: More than 100 unvaccinated children banned from school in Ravalli County for three weeks and desperate public requests for everyone to get immunized.

The community responsibility portion of this health equation is simple: Do you have the right to make me sick because you did not get vaccinated?

In essence, people who forgo vaccinations are making health decisions for other people, not just for themselves.

That’s where the freedom from inoculation crosses the line into endangering your fellow citizens.

If people, for whatever reasons, choose not to be vaccinated or have their children vaccinated, then their access to public schools should not necessarily be absolute. As always, we need to measure our freedoms against our responsibilities.