Lamont: End religious exemptions on vaccines
The state’s immunization rate for children is declining sharply, prompting Gov. Ned Lamont on Monday to join legislative leaders in promising to repeal Connecticut’s religious exemption during the 2020 legislative session.
“This is clear and necessary action needed to protect our children,” said state Public Health Commissioner Renee ColemanMitchell, noting that a “troubling trend” is emerging, particularly among the more than 100 schools that fall below the federally recommnded 95-percent immunization rate.
“I must follow the science that has been proven for 50 years,” ColemanMitchel said during a morning news conference in the state Capitol.
“This issue has become ever more critical,” said Senate President Pro
Tempore Martin M. Looney, D-New Haven. He stressed that parents of children with compromised immune systems need support. “This is not a religious issue. It’s a public health issue.”
The announcement — and a letter to legislative leaders from ColemanMitchell — came after a period of uncertainty this year regarding state public health policy, highlighted by disagreement over whether to release anonymized school-by-school immunization data for measles, mumps, and rubella, or MMR. After multiple requests from CTNewsJunkie starting in February, the DPH decided to provide the schoollevel data in May, revealing that less than 95 percent of the students in more than 100 schools across the state had received the MMR vaccine.
At the time, there were three known cases of measles in Connecticut while larger outbreaks were underway in neighboring New York. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, measles is among the most contagious viruses in the world and is spread by coughing and sneezing. Outbreaks are prevented by maintaining a 95 percent public immunization rate, which is a designation referred to as “herd immunity.”
The 95 percent threshold protects not only vaccinated children, but also those who cannot be vaccinated. Schools that achieve herd immunity reduce the risk of outbreaks of preventable diseases such as measles, tuberculosis, rubella or whooping cough. Children who cannot safely be vaccinated for medical reasons depend upon herd immunity for their health and their lives.
According to the World Health Organization, about 110,000 people died from measles in 2017, most of whom were children under the age of 5, despite the availability of a safe and effective vaccine.
In August, ColemanMitchell had said she was no longer planning on releasing the school-level data, but after being overruled by Lamont, she showed Monday that she is now supportive of the governor’s public health agenda, including removal of the religious exemption for school vaccinations.
Since then, the state revealed that the number of parents utilizing the religious exemption jumped by 25 percent from the 2017-18 school year to 2018-19, prompting more conversation at the Capitol.
“We’ve seen the immunization rates go down and the religious exemptions go up,” ColemanMitchell said at Monday’s news conference in the governor’s office.
She said she supports repeal of the religious exemption simply because “this is the time to act now.”
Coleman-Mitchell said she knows there are “many who sincerely believe that the religious exemption should not be repealed and vaccine rates by school should not be published. I sympathize, but I must follow the science that has been proven for more than 50 years and has saved millions of lives in our country.”
Measles was considered eliminated in the U.S. in
2000, based on the success of public vaccination programs. According to WHO, before the introduction of the measles vaccine in 1963, major epidemics occurred every
2–3 years and measles caused an estimated 2.6 million deaths each year worldwide.
However, based on a variety of circumstances including the spread of misinformation about some of the risks involved with vaccinations, measles has made a comeback in the U.S. with 1,241 reported cases this year in 31 states — the most in 25 years. There were nine separate outbreaks (defined as three or more cases) in the U.S. in May. Currently, there are two outbreaks ongoing, both in the state of New York, in Rockland and Wyoming counties.
“As public health commissioner, I have the responsibility to protect the public’s health and to protect those who cannot protect themselves,” Coleman-Mitchell said.
Just one month ago, Coleman-Mitchell didn’t believe it was her role to even weigh in on whether the legislature should continue to make the school-by-school data publicly available.
“I would not say anything about what the legislature should or should not do,” Coleman-Mitchell told reporters last month.
But things changed when Lamont announced the school-by-school data immunization data would be released.
“This is not always an easy vote,” Lamont said.
He said eliminating the religious exemption in October 2021 gives the state a “thoughtful way to plan.” He said he wants parents to feel their kids can go to school and feel safe.
He said he’s going to take the lead on this and believes the facts are on his side.
“When it comes to health and contagious diseases this is something we’re going to take a lead on,” Lamont said.