A brand new survey reveals dad and mom nonetheless overwhelmingly assist vaccine mandates for measles and polio, as Florida strikes to take away immunization necessities for school-aged youngsters and different states take into account modifications to their legal guidelines.
A Washington Publish-KFF ballot discovered that 81 % of fogeys assist necessities for measles and polio, whereas 18 % don’t. One % of contributors skipped the query.
Vaccine enthusiasm remained excessive amongst dad and mom from all events as 75 % of Republicans agreed that college aged youngsters ought to obtain immunizations for measles and polio. Eighty % of unbiased voters additionally supported the established order, along with 91 % of Democrats.
In Flordia, the Publish-KFF survey discovered 82 % of fogeys mentioned they imagine public faculties ought to require vaccines for measles and polio, with some well being and spiritual exceptions, whereas 17 % mentioned faculties shouldn’t require these vaccines.
Vaccine mandates turned extremely politicized throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and Well being and Human Providers Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has stoked the controversy with a sequence of divisive strikes since becoming a member of the Trump administration.
Earlier this yr, Kennedy introduced the Middle for Illness Management and Prevention would now not suggest wholesome youngsters and pregnant girls obtain vaccines for COVID-19. He has additionally ousted members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which made suggestions to the CDC, and changed them with recognized vaccine skeptics. Kennedy and President Trump have falsely steered vaccines are linked to instances of autism in younger youngsters.
Florida officers took an unprecedented step on Wednesday, once they introduced they are going to search to make the state the primary within the nation with out faculty vaccine mandates.
Public well being consultants railed towards the transfer.
“I would argue that this is the worst public health decision I’ve ever seen [from] a state health official,” mentioned Georges Benjamin, government director of the American Public Well being Affiliation. “This guy will have dead children at his feet.”
Nonetheless, Mehmet Oz, the movie star physician who oversees Medicaid and Medicare, mentioned he helps efforts to take away immunization necessities.
“I would definitely not have mandates for vaccinations,” Oz mentioned throughout an interview on Fox Information’s “The Story with Martha MacCallum.”
“This is a decision that a physician and a patient should be making together,” he continued. “The parents love their kids more than anybody else could love that kid, so why not let the parents play an active role in this?”
Whereas no different state has made such a drastic step, lawmakers in different states together with Idaho, New Hampshire and Texas are contemplating legal guidelines that might roll again some vaccine mandates for schoolchildren.
