Besides the pandemic causing lower vaccination rates, I think part of the issue is that many parents have never seen the severe effects of vaccine preventable disease. I remember having a conversation with a mom who came in to my health dept seeking an exemption for her child entering kindergarten. At the time, California was in the midst of a Pertussis outbreak leading to several deaths. When I shared this with the mom her reply was, "well several deaths isn't that bad". Of course my immediate response was "if it's your child that died it's a big deal". She looked at me astonished, realizing what she had just said! She still went forward with the exemption, sadly.
Thank you for your "Three Things Thursday". Even though I am a retired PH professional I enjoy reading them.
Exactly -- while there were missed vaccine appointments during the pandemic, the problem here in the US is the individual decisions parents/guardians are making to not vaccinate their kids. My heart aches -- we have such short-term memories. My grandmother was an elementary school secretary for years and she always said she hated the back-to-school period because it was the time she would get the phone calls notifying her of the children who would not be returning to school in August because of polio. We are (at most) two generations removed from polio and measles -- and yet, we don't remember. Nor do we care that other are dying. And I hate that folks think only of the risk of the shot and not the longterm consequences of getting sick. Your story hurts my soul. Deeply.
Hello Becky,
Besides the pandemic causing lower vaccination rates, I think part of the issue is that many parents have never seen the severe effects of vaccine preventable disease. I remember having a conversation with a mom who came in to my health dept seeking an exemption for her child entering kindergarten. At the time, California was in the midst of a Pertussis outbreak leading to several deaths. When I shared this with the mom her reply was, "well several deaths isn't that bad". Of course my immediate response was "if it's your child that died it's a big deal". She looked at me astonished, realizing what she had just said! She still went forward with the exemption, sadly.
Thank you for your "Three Things Thursday". Even though I am a retired PH professional I enjoy reading them.
Exactly -- while there were missed vaccine appointments during the pandemic, the problem here in the US is the individual decisions parents/guardians are making to not vaccinate their kids. My heart aches -- we have such short-term memories. My grandmother was an elementary school secretary for years and she always said she hated the back-to-school period because it was the time she would get the phone calls notifying her of the children who would not be returning to school in August because of polio. We are (at most) two generations removed from polio and measles -- and yet, we don't remember. Nor do we care that other are dying. And I hate that folks think only of the risk of the shot and not the longterm consequences of getting sick. Your story hurts my soul. Deeply.