EDITORIAL: Vaccines for deadly diseases, like meningitis B, should be required by Penn State

A lot of people agree it’s a no- brainer to get yourself vaccinated. However, there are still people who refuse to get proper vaccines citing it as causing other health issues or interfering with their religious beliefs.

August 27, 2018
Daily Collegian

SUMMARY

A lot of people agree it’s a no- brainer to get yourself vaccinated. However, there are still people who refuse to get proper vaccines citing it as causing other health issues or interfering with their religious beliefs.

This can cause tension between people who do not want to be vaccinated and institutions that require it in order to work or study. Despite this, Penn State currently has a list of vaccines required by the university as well as a list of, not required, but strongly recommended.

Currently, the meningitis B vaccine is only strongly recommended by the university, not required. This often deadly disease, while uncommon, appeared on Penn State’s campus in 2016 when a student was diagnosed with it.

Luckily, no other student was harmed by the student’s contraction of meningitis B, and the student received the proper treatment. However, if the majority of students did not have this vaccine, it could have turned into an outbreak.

College campuses are probably some of the worst places not to be vaccinated. There is so much contact between students living within close quarters of each other, so it increases the opportunity for the spread of disease.

So why is this vaccine not required by the university?

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