I don't get the religion part at all.
There don't seem to be any mainstream religions that argue against vaccinations, but here are some religious influences (from Wikipedia):
The cell culture media of some viral vaccines, and the virus of the
rubella vaccine, are derived from tissues taken from therapeutic abortions performed in the 1960s, leading to moral questions. For example, the
principle of double effect, originated by
Thomas Aquinas, holds that actions with both good and bad consequences are morally acceptable in specific circumstances, and the question is how this principle applies to vaccination.
[17] The Vatican Curia has expressed concern about the rubella vaccine's embryonic cell origin, saying Catholics have "...a grave responsibility to use alternative vaccines and to make a conscientious objection with regard to those which have moral problems."
[18] The Vatican concluded that until an alternative becomes available it is acceptable for
Catholics to use the existing vaccine, writing, "This is an unjust alternative choice, which must be eliminated as soon as possible."
[18]
Some conservative U.S. Christian groups oppose mandatory vaccination for diseases typically spread via sexual contact, arguing that the possibility of disease deters risky sexual contact. For example, the
Family Research Council opposes mandatory use of
vaccines against the human papillomavirus, writing, "Our primary concern is with the message that would be delivered to nine- to 12-year-olds with the administration of the vaccines. Care must be taken not to communicate that such an intervention makes all sex 'safe'."
[19][20]
Rabbi Schmuel Kamemenetsky, a prominent[
according to whom?] Orthodox Jewish rabbi, denounced immunization as a hoax. A magazine called P.E.A.C.H. that presented an anti-immunization message to Orthodox Jews was distributed in Brooklyn, New York in early 2014. This is not a widespread phenomenon though. 96% of students at Yeshivas (which are essentially all Orthodox Jewish) in New York City were immunized according to information obtained in 2014, although this is a lower than average rate.
[21]
In the U.S., all states except Mississippi and West Virginia allow parents to opt out of their children's otherwise-mandatory vaccinations for religious reasons.
[24] The number of religious exemptions rose greatly in the late 1990s and early 2000s; for example, in
Massachusetts, the rate of those seeking exemptions rose from 0.24% in 1996 to 0.60% in 2006. Some parents are falsely claiming religious beliefs in order to get exemptions.
[25] The
American Medical Association opposes such exemptions, on the grounds that they endanger health not only for the unvaccinated individual but also for neighbors and the community at large.
[26]
Edit: It is noteworthy that Miss and WV are the only two states that truly mandate vaccinations!
