Imagine being a seven year old that had a heart transplant and is living a precarious life not having the ability to get vaccinated against diseases. She depends on people like us around her to be vaccinated. Yes, I’m talking about children like Brooke Balck who are living in California and go to public schools where vaccination rates are dropping at dangerous levels in the last four years. In fact, data from Shots for School that collects and reports immunization compliance from schools in California confirmed the same.
Sadly, the drop in vaccination rates was due to the rise of fraudulent medical exemptions for vaccinations by a few doctors since personal belief exemptions were rightfully banned in California after the passing of SB 277 in 2015 as a counter measure after the deadly measles outbreak in Disney theme parks. These doctors, though few in number, were causing serious harm in communities, where their practices can cause outbreaks of lethal, vaccine-preventable diseases, especially highly contagious and deadly diseases such as measles.
We need at least 95% of us vaccinated in a close community such as a school or day care to provide herd immunity to those who legitimately cannot take vaccines. With vaccination rates dropping, these few doctors were putting lives at risk. A few months ago in September 2019, amidst a lot of polarized conversations and heated protests, SB 276, a bill supported by the California Medical Board was finally passed which allows State Public Health officials to rightfully scrutinize the medical exemptions made by doctors.
Many parents wanted the bill to be passed, however there was a vocal minority generating a lot of debate about why the state needs to be involved between their doctors and them, and why the California Medical Board couldn’t just go after the bad doctors. As a tween, I was shocked to see when an assault was made on Dr. Richard Pan, California Senator and the author of both the bills. I couldn’t believe that the anti-vaxx propaganda was riling up emotions to such a degree. There is ample scientific evidence on the safety of vaccines dating all the way back to 1980 when we eradicated smallpox. And frankly if one disagrees, there are civil and democratic ways to approach issues, not with threats and violence. Some even started posting erroneous information on twitter that SB 276 was about vaccinating without consent, which is not true at all. Families that do not choose to vaccinate still can homeschool their children. Thankfully, despite threats and erroneous information, SB 276 passed on September 9th, largely due to tireless efforts of the local parent advocacy organization Vaccinate California and Dr. Pan. It was a momentous day for California and I was glad that friends among us such as Brooke will be safer who rely on us to be vaccinated around her.
I believe SB 276 will create a safer environment in schools because the regulation of medical exemptions by state health officials will restore vaccines rates to above 95%, the minimum needed for herd immunity to take effect and combat the anti-vaccine doctors. It is unfortunate that the state has had to take stern measures and prioritize public safety amidst concerns of government overriding individual rights. As a student of history, I am aware that when state takes actions, it can polarize communities however, in exigent circumstances, community health comes first.
I believe in our democratic process and we must support both points of view, come together for discussions and develop solutions jointly. Sometimes we will need to compromise. When the health of the community at large is at risk with proven scientific evidence of deadly outbreaks for preventable diseases, we will need to compromise as individuals for the greater good. As a reminder to all of us, please take note of the data from CDC that shows measles is indeed on the rise and we are not out of the woods yet!
Update to the article on Dec 22: Recently, the referendum filed by the minority to overturn SB 276 failed due to lack of enough support in CA.
CALL TO ACTION
Please take a moment to:
1. “Like” the Facebook page for Teens for Vaccines, an initiative that aims at educating teens on the dangers of vaccine hesitancy and empowering them to be vaccine advocates. The website is planned to be launched soon.
2. Follow us @teensforvaxx on Twitter, and Instagram.
