Children need immunization

Eliminate non-medical exemption

Vaccine preventable illnesses — such as recent outbreaks of measles in California and New York — continue to endanger our country. Misinformation and a lack of understanding fuel the rise of preventable illnesses. To protect the health of the public, vaccine exemptions should be strictly for medical reasons only in cases where children are immunocompromised, allergic to vaccine components or who experienced a previous reaction to a vaccine.

Many parents claim exemptions based on religion or personal beliefs. A study in STAT News found states that do not have personal belief exemptions are four times more likely to have parents claiming religious exemptions than states that offer parents both types of exemptions.

Officials around the country should learn from experiences that occurred in other states. Connecticut Mirror data shows the number of students claiming vaccine exemptions rose by 25 percent between the 2017-18 and 2018-19 school years. This was the largest single-year increase since the department began tracking the information a decade ago. In late 2019, the commissioner of the state Department of Public Health, Renee Colman Mitchell, warned that, “We should not wait until we have a serious outbreak of measles or other infectious diseases or even the possibility of death.” We have the power to protect ourselves, our family, and the community from infection of vaccine preventable diseases.

During the 2019 New York City measles outbreak, 80 percent of those who contracted measles were children and 71 percent of the children did not receive a single dose of the vaccine. As the Deputy Commissioner for the New York City Health Department noted, “Staying up to date on vaccines is the best way for people to protect their health and safety... It only takes one case to start an outbreak.” A recent study published in “Missouri Medicine” found that individuals who spent as little as 5 to 10 minutes on anti-vaccination websites displayed an increased perception of risk from vaccines. The repeated outbreaks the U.S experiences are due to the lack of scientific understanding in communities about vaccination. A 2015 Harris Poll found 32 percent of parents with children under the age of 6 think there is at least a moderate chance that vaccinations may cause autism and 24 percent believe scientific research demonstrates this risk. Vaccination decisions are also influenced by partisan differences. Politico noted that Democrats favor tightening or eliminating exemptions while Republicans are reluctant to limit parental control.

Vaccination, however, should be a question of public health, not politics. There is a fundamental difference in medical exemptions from vaccines compared to exemptions for religious and personal beliefs. It is much easier for parents to opt out via religious exemption even if they are not religious. After Vermont repealed its personal exemption for vaccinations, religious exemptions in the state increased from 0.5 percent to 3.7 percent, or 7 times higher than when personal exemptions were available. It is vital for states to require mandatory receipts of the MMR vaccine for children, with exemption only for medical reasons. If Connecticut tightens exemption, there will be a higher chance of achieving herd immunity, which requires approximately 95 percent of the population to be vaccinated, with those true medical exemptions falling in the 5 percent unvaccinated.

Children in Connecticut should not suffer from a preventable disease such as measles that could be fatal. Religious and philosophical exemptions to the state’s vaccination requirements place others at risk and should be eliminated. We can and should save children’s lives through immunization. No child should die from measles in 2020.