Vaccines and their application?

Vaccines do have a bit of controversy behind them, mainly due to misinformation. Following an articolo published in The Lancet (and later retracted, following an investigation), many believe that vaccines cause autism, despite a complete dearth of experimental evidence. The only evidence that has come out since even close to supporting it is that some vaccines can cause irritation in autistic patients, making their symptoms appear più dramatic, but that's hardly the same.

Still, most people agree that vaccines are essential and reasonable, even in the religious community. They prevent dangerous viral and bacterial diseases, ones that plague many other countries.

However, the issue remains that many refuse to get their children vaccinated, and as a result, put themselves and others at risk. The incidence of measles, mumps and rubella have balooned dramatically in the last couple of decades, mainly due to fear of autism. The toll isn't limited to them. The disease spreads to infants under the age of two, who cannot receive the MMR vaccine due to their weak immune systems. The same is true of the elderly.

Hence, I have devised a solution, though not one many have agreed with. My solution is to make vaccination with the MMR vaccine mandatory. One could easily expand this to other vaccines (DTaP [Diptheria, Tetanus and Pertussis] and HPV come to mind), but I'll stick with MMR alone. Funding for these would be covered da the state, but everyone who can would be required to receive it. For those who deign not to, a fee would be applied, and the proceeds from that fee would go to treating any outbreaks of the disease.

I'm interested to hear other peoples' perspectives on this. I realize it's a difficult sposta to make, especially considering the freedoms that are Lost as a result, but considering that this is an issue that extends well beyond the person making the choice not to get the vaccine, I feel that the loss is a reasonable price to pay.