Relativně nedávno vypukla v USA epidemie spalniček. Epicentrem se stal Disneyland v Anaheimu v Kalifornii.
A vypuknutí této epidemi přimělo politiky se vyjádřit k ožehavému tématu povinnného očkování.
Mluvčí Bílého domu J. Ernest řekl: „The president believes it shouldn’t require a law for people to exercise common sense and do the right thing.“ He continued, „… This is the right thing for them to do both by their own children, but by also other children in the community. They have a responsibility to do this.“
Někteří senátoři pak vyzvali v otevřeném dopise, aby byla přehodnocena politika ve vztahu k očkování dětí. V obdobném duchu se pak vyjádřil i Lawrence O. Gostin v National Law Review, kde konstatoval:
“The ethical question is whether a layman’s view of vaccine risk, unsupported by evidence, ought to prevail when the consequence of failure to vaccinate is the spread of dangerous, sometimes lethal, diseases…What has happened is that religious and conscientious objectors cluster in distinct neighborhoods, which leads to outbreaks throughout the community. The tragedy of the commons is that if enough people opt out, everyone becomes at risk.”