SEE NEWS DIFFERENTLY
Health

The Great Vaccine Debate

Should you have the right to *not* vaccinate your child?

A measles outbreak prompts lawmakers to consider reversing course on policies they may have helped put in place.

Health

What’s Going On:

  • Measles cases in 10 states, some tied to low vaccination rates.
  • 46 states: allow religious exemptions to vaccinations.
  • 17 states: allow for “philosophical” exemptions for personal beliefs.
  • In the wake of recent outbreaks, Washington & Oregon are looking to potentially tighten laws that allow for these personal exemptions.
Health

“I’m very worried that these measles epidemics are becoming a new normal…The enablers are state legislators in those states, that have allowed themselves to be played.”

Dr. Peter Hotez, Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston who is against personal exemptions for vaccines.
Health

“I see that as medical fascism. I’m the one who is going to make medical decisions for my kids.”

Becky Johnson mother of 3, who is against vaccinations. She disagrees with a new California law passed in 2015 (after a measles outbreak at Disneyland) that reversed personal exemptions, requiring vaccinations.
Health

Who Decides Who Vaccinates & Where?

  • Federal gov’t makes recommendations, not laws or policies, re: vaccines.
  • Your state gov’t sets requirements for vaccinations at a local level, normally for attending school.
  • Why? Simply – the federal gov’t is responsible for our national security and your state, for your personal safety.
Health

Current measles vaccination rate in America is approx. 90%; Some states have lower. In general, a community needs to have 90-95% vaccination rates for "herd immunity" that prevents the spread of a contagious disease.

view sources

Read

Sources