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Comment by breadbox | Hacker News Reader

There will always be a few unvaccinated children; some kids can't get vaccinated due to other issues. We don't need more people voluntarily exposing their own children to needless risk.

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I think there has to be a level of tolerance which is justifiable by science and working around the issue by other means -- for instance only so many kids without a certain vaccine can be in the same peer group. Else you are a totalitarian and we've seen that this type of thinking produces problems.

Government-enforced mandatory vaccination is what really made inroads into smallpox, a disease which is now eradicated.

Respecting the "diversity" of opinions on the issue would have achieved the opposite.

Don't get me wrong -- I'm not certain I'm comfortable with the idea of forcing parents to vaccinate their children either. There are serious issues with personal autonomy there. But please, please let's not fool ourselves with lies about how it might be for the best. That direction lies nothing but FUD and pseudoscience. The question is whether or not parents should be have the right to put their children at risk because they disagree with reality.

That level of tolerance has traditionally been given, but it has recently begun to be abused. A few fringe religious nuts who want to abstain from modern medicine are fine; they don't threaten herd immunity. However as soon as not vaccinating your children becomes the trendy thing for young parents to do, it can become necessary to take a hardline stance in order to protect those who do not have the luxury of choosing to be vaccinated.

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