Do You know If The Vaccines Are Safe? I'm Sure You Know

To Combat Disease, States Make it Harder to Skip Vaccines

• May 25, 2016
 
• By Sarah Breitenbach

© The Associated Press

Parents wait to testify against a Washington bill that would have kept families from opting out of mandatory vaccinations for personal or philosophical reasons.

This story has been updated to say that Colorado’s new vaccination requirements are rules issued by the state’s Board of Health. 

When Jennifer Stella’s two children were babies, she made sure they got all the usual vaccines. But when one started having seizures and the other developed eczema after they’d gotten immunizations, the Vermont woman decided her kids would no longer get shots required to attend school. 

Stella, a co-founder of the Vermont Coalition for Vaccine Choice, is among a growing number of parents who are opting out of childhood vaccinations because they’re worried about their safety. Public health experts say the movement is leading to outbreaks of nearly eradicated dangerous diseases, such as measles and whooping cough, among clusters of unvaccinated kids.

All states require children to get vaccinated to attend school, and immunization rates across the nation remain high, with 92 percent of children between 19 months and 35 months getting the shots to protect against potentially deadly measles, mumps and rubella (MMR).

Read more http://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2016/05/25/to-combat-disease-states-make-it-harder-to-skip-vaccines