Vaccine Policy Letter

Group: Richet
Members: T. Muthu, Christopher Chia, Kendrick Lam, Chrus Chong, Muhd Ashraf
Intro:
In the face of the recent increase of disease outbreaks all around the world, especially the
resurgence of measles, we feel that in order to safeguard national interests vaccination against
measles and diphtheria should continue to be made mandatory. Additionally, vaccinations for
tuberculosis and pneumococcal disease should be made compulsory as well due to the high
risk of contracting those diseases. Residents are still highly encouraged to take the other
vaccinations as well. That is unless they have very strong reasons to be exempted from the
vaccinations.
Should the vaccination policy permit medical religious or philosophical exemptions:
Only medical and religious exemptions should be permitted in order to reject vaccination, and
philosophical exemptions should not be permitted. However, it has to be substantiated by official
medical reports or approval by religious organisations. This of course, goes by a case by case
basis. Vaccination should be mandatory for the large majority of the population so as to ensure
that the spread of infectious diseases within the population itself can be curbed. This works due
to the fact that once one has been vaccinated, he or she cannot be infected by the same kind of
infectious disease in the future, thus there is little to no chance of the infectious disease being
able to infect others besides the original patient.
Nonetheless, some members of the public or religious groups might oppose this policy of
compulsory vaccination, which might lead to a decrease in support for vaccination. While we are
accepting of the various religious beliefs in our country, as it is for the interest of the whole
countrys well-being, vaccination has to be made compulsory, and subsequent solutions should
be taken to convince and encourage these groups to go for vaccinations.
What must an individual do:
To qualify for exemptions, a Medical Exemption form must be obtained from the patients
physician. So as to maintain social harmony, one can also be exempted from vaccinations for
religious reasons by filling out the Religious Exemption form, obtained from the local health
department. However, we feel that in the case of certain personal reasons such as fear of

injections or simply not wanting to be immunised, the citizens should still be strongly
encouraged to receive the vaccination.
Vaccinations makes the patient immune to a specific disease and can contribute to the effect of
herd immunity. There is also the significant threat of the unimmunised contracting the disease,
in which the virus mutates to form a new strain and infect those previously immunised against
the disease. Although the presence of unimmunised citizens make it impossible to completely
eradicate this threat, having as many citizens as possible receiving their immunisations lowers
the risk of this happening due to herd immunity. Children especially should not be exempted
from immunisations just from having their parents write letters for them. Moreover, those who
will not be receiving immunisations due to personal reasons should have mandatory counselling
so that they will understand the risks and the benefits of their choices to themselves and public
health.
How should the policy be enforced:
We must first try to get across to the public the benefits of being vaccinated, how the very very
tiny risks that come with vaccination are outweighed by those benefits, as well as the threats of
being unvaccinated. This will hopefully alleviate any concerns that people may have about being
vaccinated such as any potential side effects. We can also offer free immunisation against
measles, diphtheria, tuberculosis, and pneumococcal disease for those that are in low-income
families and are not able to afford the vaccinations.
After trying their best to encourage people to have vaccinations through the use of public
outreach programmes, talks, brochures and ads, if some people still do not comply, public
health officers will have the ability to fine them up till $50 for each day they are unvaccinated
against measles and diphtheria.
Additionally, in the case of a serious public health risk, the MOH should have the ability to
vaccinate people against their will as these people pose a public threat to the safety and health
of the rest of the community (in the case of a mutation and spreads to those who are immune).
However, people who are allergic to the vaccine used can have a choice not to be vaccinated,
as it might cause them equal amounts of harm as compared to the disease.