I’ve been slightly appalled by the way that the debate over vaccination has proceeded of late — particularly in the belligerent peddling of misinformation and calls for government controls. (I’ve seen that on all sides, unfortunately.) Alas, that’s to be expected when sick kids are involved. In any case, because I’m answering a question on Sunday’s Philosophy in Action Radio about whether people have an obligation to vaccinate purely for the sake of herd immunity, I thought that I’d compile some links for reading in advance.

A word of warning, first. As you’ll see, these links are from a variety of perspectives, and I’m not vouching for them. You shouldn’t assume that I agree with them. They’re just to help inform you about the debate.

• Mandatory vaccination is not the answer to measles: Some arguments against mandatory vaccination from a pediatrician who gives the MMR vaccine routinely, but recognizes its limits and risks. (This, I like.)
• Why Measles Outbreaks Terrify Me: A mom explains the risk that measles poses to her son due to his heart transplant.
• Don’t Vaccinate to Protect My Cancer Kid: A cancer mom explains why the unvaccinated aren’t the greatest risk to her kid suffering from leukemia.
• To the Parent of the Immunocompromised Child Who Thinks My Kid is a Threat: A mom argues that the unvaccinated don’t present a grave or unique risk to people who cannot be vaccinated.
• Growing Up Unvaccinated: A woman recounts her childhood of one illness after another, often preventable by vaccines.
• I Asked My Mom Why She Didn’t Vaccinate Me: An interesting personal story of a woman who wasn’t vaccinated.
• Five Things To Know About The Disneyland Measles Outbreak: An advocate of vaccination takes a look at the recent outbreak.
• Immunization Schedules and Statistics: About the current schedule of vaccination recommended by the CDC.
• Vaccination Schedules by Country: It’s a chart per country, so the comparison isn’t super-easy, unfortunately.
• National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program Statistics Report: Vaccine manufacturers are immune from injury claims: any such claims are paid for by a federal government program. This is the report on claims and payouts. Over $3 billion has been paid out since 1989.

Also, I answered a question about compulsory vaccination on the 3 August 2014 episode of Philosophy in Action Radio. If you’ve not yet heard it, you should listen to or download the relevant segment of the podcast before Sunday’s broadcast. It’s here:

• Duration: 31:22
• Download: MP3 Segment

For more details, check out the question’s archive page.

And with that… see you on Sunday!