THE HISTORY AND POSITION OF THE SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH ON THE ISSUE OF VACCINATION

Abstract

The article outlines the statements and official addresses of the Seventh-day Adventist Church regarding vaccination and herd immunity. It was found that the ASD has been marked by a positive attitude towards the issue of the vaccine during the entire period of its existence. Adventists partly supported compulsory vaccination in order to overcome a pandemic of infectious diseases such as smallpox. However, the leadership of the church has always advocated a voluntary solution, and the vaccine was recommended as an effective remedy. However, the decision to hold it remained the personal responsibility of the members of the church. It was revealed that modern vaccines were invented only a few centuries ago and their active distribution took place in the 19th-20th centuries. In the second half of the eighteenth century, it became known that bovine pox was very similar to human pox, and that sometimes people get cow pox. The Englishman Edward Jenner carefully studied the nature of cowpox and invented artificial inoculation, the principle of which became an example for all subsequent vaccines. It was found that the SDA Church opposed vaccination with a humanized virus, since the latter created a greater risk of contracting other dangerous diseases. Among the SDA there is a small part of people who support anti-vaccination, the antivaccination movement. The practice of vaccination spread to the United States at the beginning of the 19th century, and the formation of Adventists as a church organization took place in the 40-60s of the same century. It was revealed that as of the beginning of the XX century. Church leaders are unfamiliar with the activities of the American Anti-Vaccination Society and have been active advocates of immunization. The Adventist view of the vaccine has always been balanced and reasoned. In particular, according to him, vaccination, of course, gives a significant degree of immunity, but it also has certain risks in the form of side effects and body reactions in individuals. Vaccination, of course, has a decisive influence on epidemiological diseases, because a person who has taken the vaccine carries the virus in a mild form. It has been found that SDA explains the bias towards immunization in some populations due to incompetence and non-compliance with the proper quality of vaccines. There is no objection to vaccination if done properly. In the course of the study, through the analysis of a number of indications, it was found that sanitation, according to the SDA, is not a reliable protection against diseases, because for many years it was believed that smallpox and typhoid fever could be prevented through proper quarantine and disinfection measures, which in fact not confirmed. . A healthy lifestyle has been an important part of the teachings of the Adventist Church since its early years and remains so to this day. Adventist studies have confirmed the undoubted benefits of increasing life expectancy through the introduction of health practices such as a balanced vegetarian diet, exercise, drinking enough water, regular exercise, exposure to the sun, fresh air, abstinence from alcohol, tobacco and other harmful substances. rest and sleep. These practices strengthen and maintain healthy immunity, but the Church acknowledges and recommends the responsible use of vaccines as an important public health intervention, especially during a pandemic. It was found that the SDA respect the right of people to freedom of choice, including vaccination.