Vaccines should not be mandatory.

They are a waste of time and money.

I would like to preface my argument by pointing out that the currently mandated vaccines have opt out clauses for those with religious objections or other conscientious reasons. Beyond that it's imperative for herd immunity among other variables that the majority of people be vaccinated and thus should be mandated

First, What is herd immunity? the resistance to the spread of a contagious disease within a population that results if a sufficiently high proportion of individuals are immune to the disease, especially through vaccination. Why is this important? according to vaccines.gov Germs can travel quickly through a community and make a lot of people sick. If enough people get sick, it can lead to an outbreak. But when enough people are vaccinated against a certain disease, the germs can"t travel as easily from person to person " and the entire community is less likely to get the disease.

That means even people who can"t get vaccinated will have some protection from getting sick. And if a person does get sick, there"s less chance of an outbreak because it"s harder for the disease to spread. Eventually, the disease becomes rare " and sometimes, it"s wiped out altogether.

Who does community immunity protect?
Community immunity protects everyone. But it"s especially important because some people can"t get vaccinated for certain diseases " such as people with some serious allergies and those with weakened or failing immune systems (like people who have cancer, HIV/AIDS, type 1 diabetes, or other health conditions).

Community immunity is also important for the very small group of people who don"t have a strong immune response from vaccines. Essentially, when the vast majority of people are immune to a disease, it protects those of us who can't get vaccinated.

Now to address my opponent's points. He claimed that it's a waste of time and money, However, both of these are not priority issues. saving the few minutes it takes to get vaccinated cannot hold up to saving lives with herd immunity. the same can be said for saving a paltry sum of money. This is a not a priority issue at best and selfish at worst.

Protect our communities, save lives. vote con.