Require vaccinations now

Having served as the director of the Office of Border Health in New Mexico for seven years, I was very active in the response to the last pandemic, in 2009 — H1N1 (also called the “swine flu”). We used to call school students “the spreaders” because in that pandemic, the virus affected children more than older residents. And now we have the original virus strain of H1N1 2009 in our annual flu vaccination, along with one of its variants. So why is this pandemic different? Why are we not responding with even more seriousness and to the science of what is going on? Why are we not requiring the vaccination of our students for this disease, even as it is more virulent than many of the diseases that are included in the list of required vaccines for students to attend in-person classes in our schools? Why is the New Mexico Department of Health not requiring vaccinations of those who are most vulnerable or the people who surround them and to our children? I do not understand.

If ever we are to put this pandemic behind, to reduce its continual mutation and transmission, and turn it into just another seasonal virus that can be controlled with annual vaccinations (like the seasonal flu), we must act immediately. I beseech the New Mexico Department of Health and our governor to require vaccinations to all who frequent our schools, both students and staff alike. I also ask we require vaccinations of all those employed by the state, by the hospitals, by the long-term care facilities and by major employers. It is time to save lives.

Paul Dulin Las Cruces