Andy Griffith and the externalities of vaccinations

I noticed some discussions about vaccination requirements in the US lately, and thought enough about it to put in some comments.

First off, I think I understand where some politicians are coming from when they assert that people have a choice. We don't want a government handing down edicts concerning our health. Legislation regulating consumption of tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, and trans fats seem to spark this fear. However, in the case of the above examples, the government seems to be making better use of their resources informing the public rather than restricting them.

The same goes for vaccines. I don't think anyone over 50 longs for days of cholera, polio, small pox, typhoid and tetanus, because they have memories of the pain associated with experiencing those diseases. Maybe we should use the limited resources available to public health organizations to better inform a younger generation.

I remember chicken pox as a rite of passage with baking soda baths and misery.While it was not deadly, I am appreciative of not having to endure those abysmal two weeks with my children due to the relatively new chicken pox vaccine. I fear, however, my children, having not experienced it themselves, may feel the need to opt out.

Now, let's get to the mandatory vaccines. First, I am sympathetic to making them non-mandatory (freedom, rights, blah blah blah), but let's look at the externalities. You remember those from econ, the effects of an individual's decisions on another individual's happiness. It turns out that if you don't get the measles vaccine, then you are more likely to get the measles. Which means you put a drain on productivity and health care. That increases my health costs, or taxes, and increases prices, because the cost of labor went up. Secondly, even though I have the vaccine, there is a small chance it may not work in me. That wouldn't bother me if I knew that everyone had the vaccine, which means nobody has it and I won't come in contact with it. But if enough people don't get vaccinated, then that increases the chances of an unsuccessful vaccine meeting an infected person. Yikes! Third, vaccines are administered in time intervals. In other words, you are not fully vaccinated once you are born. That puts infants, and even young children at the highest risk. It is this point that I personally get irritated, and probably where the mandatory vaccines enter: at the public school level.

Let me conclude that while the politicians constitutional purity is noble, to the extent that the existing vaccines have been vetted, there many other issues that need to be addressed. In particular, better information.

Andy Griffith, my TV hero, sings a song to Rafe Hollister because he refuses to get a tetanus shot. The Andy Griffith Show episode is "County Nurse", and really fits well with the conversation today. The song is a great response to the rejection of vaccines, and would make a fitting advertisement for promoting vaccinations.