If the vaccination makes one immune to the disease, I don’t understand why there is an uproar if those that haven’t been vaccinated get sick.
Understand that no vaccine is 100% effective in 100% of the people who get it. Some people get a vaccination but for reasons not fully understood, they do not develop the required immune response, develop the antibodies the vaccine was intended to create. But where there are high vaccination rates, the “herd immunity” effect comes into play. If the vaccination fails you or you are one of those people who cannot get vaccinated for legitimate medical reasons or have a medical condition like cancer for one and are undergoing chemo that causes a decrease in your immune system making you susceptible even if you had been vaccinated, the more people around you who are immunized and do not get sick, the less likely you are to become sick. And FWIW, babies under 1 year old are too young to get the MMR vaccination.
One might also consider the economic impacts. If a lot of unimmunized people or their children get sick with the measles (or any other vaccine preventable illnesses), they are likely to miss time from work, sometimes a week or more.
You may be fortunate to work for a company that provides paid time off for illness (PTO or Sick Leave) but someone is going to have to cover for you while you are out, and if that is an hourly position, that might mean the company has to pay one of your co-workers overtime or incur the costs of bringing in a temp on top of the cost of paying you. If you work for a small company and or one that doesn’t provide paid sick leave or personal time off, missing a week or more of work could be devastating to the family budget.
They might also flood ERs and urgent care centers and doctors offices, putting a strain on the system.
And FWIW, here is an article regarding a person with measles here in Lancaster County PA.
http://fox43.com/2015/02/06/measles-exposure-alert-at-millersville-university/
The State Health Department lists other locations in the county where people were exposed to a possible case of measles:
College Avenue Associates: 233 College Avenue, Lancaster, Wednesday, Feb. 4 from 2 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. This includes all practices at the medical building:
Keystone Cancer Center
Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgeons
Red Rose Cardiology and Interventional Spine Associates
General Surgery Oncology Specialists of Central Pennsylvania
Lancaster Pulmonary and Sleep Associates and Infectious Disease Specialists
Red Rose Pediatrics
Lancaster Hematology/Oncology
Note the medical offices located in this building that I bolded were the person with measles went. This presumably unimmunized person might have infected some very vulnerable people – cancer patients and young infants. Measles is highly contagious, one of the most contagious viruses known. A person with measles merely walking through a building lobby or riding on a elevator can pass the virus on to others, even two hours later.