California's narrower guardrails on whatever exemption anti-vaxxers are currently using to reduce herd immunity work, while Florida's willingness to nod and wink at doubters has its MMR vaccination rate for youngsters falling like a rock.
Nationally, of course, we have RFK Jr telling people to take cod liver oil and squinting funny when people mention vaccines. U.S. kindergarten MMR coverage has fallen to 92.4%, while vaccine exemptions reached a record 4.2% and exceeded 5% in 24 states.
This is bad quite generally, but it's not equally bad in every state. And it's very easy to demonstrate that state and local policies when it comes to vaccine requirements for school and the availability for non-religious exemptions are having quite the effect. This data is partially from the last school year, for instance, but it does a nice job highlighting the differences between states. In California, where exemptions face relatively tight requirements, 95.7% of kindergartners had the MMR vaccinations. In Florida, where the DeSantis administration has attempted to end all vaccination requirements for public schools, 88.9% of kindergartners had their MMR vaccinations.
The messaging from state and local leaders matters. The same is true for federal leaders. Public and health policy matter. And when we fall below herd immunity vaccination levels, the consequences are, well, precisely what we're seeing out in the American wild at the moment.
Once again, these are parents who believe they are smarter than the Centers for Disease Control and their state departments of transportation. No vaccines for little Dzhimimay, but let's get him an e-motorcycle.
Measles does not require anyone's trust in government to work.
We just adjusted the rules on vaccination for our 40k staff hospital system that will guide the requirements starting next month. There's now NO CHECK on religious exemption because the state and federal gov't have warned us not to even try to block it. So we won't even ask you now if it is the Flying Spaghetti Monster that says you cannot be vaccinated. We just approve it.
Just so stupid.
If there was any way to guarantee that only the kids of anti-vaxers got sick then I wouldn’t care . Alas, there is so much collateral illness that making everyone be vaccinated is the only path forward.