Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/03/07/measles-outbreak-sends-800-was.html
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Meanwhile, in Arizona, the state legislature is considering making it even easier to opt out of vaccinations even though their immunization rates are already dangerously low.
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800? Can’t we try harder America?
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In fairness this was Washington. Just wait until Florida, Alabama, or Mississippi give it the ol’ college try!!!
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Honestly, these outbreaks are probably the only thing that will move the needle on this topic. Unfortunately, it will come at the expense of the most vulnerable and inflict some of them with lifelong health issues or even death, but if Wakefield being disbarred and disgraced and 17 studies refuting his bullshit aren’t enough then maybe real-life consequences will be.
And then I think about Newtown and pull the covers back up over my face.
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Thank Dumblerdore that CA requires immunizations in order for kids to attend public school.
SMH @ some people’s idiocy, and the near certainty that the end of our society as we know it will come from some sort of contagion.
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That law/set of laws is very young. “Folks” in CA are still trying to overturn it.
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Yeah, that’s what I thought. Wasn’t it in response to the Disneyland outbreak?
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That outbreak started CA’s turn back towards sanity. They unvaccinated rate at public schools was soaring.
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Still glad it was a requirement when I registered my kid.
Some folks just want to watch the world burn.
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RI does too.
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And then there just out and out assholes. “You can’t inconvenience me! I has rights!”
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The questions are:
- Is the local jail equipped to enforce this quarantine?
- What are the sanctions (against the jail operators) if they fail to honor the quarantine?
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Public health officials have pretty broad authority to enforce quarantines in outbreak situations. Most are understandably loathe to do so. I am not sufficiently familiar with WI to guess what their laws might be, but in general this shit is messing with more fire than he probably comprehends.
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Unfortunately, the anti vaxxers are just as committed as Donald Trump supporters. No amount of “facts” will change their minds or hearts. A deadly exercise in futility. Back in 2009 I was on the Staten Island ferry and sat nearby a family of Hassidic Jews. Shortly thereafter I came down with case of adult mumps. At the time, there was an outbreak in NYC and the boroughs. And please, let know one tell you that you cannot contract mumps a second time. I had them sixty years prior and neither time was any fun! Words of advice, even older folks need booster vaccinations to stay safe in today’s world!
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Something Positive from earlier this week…
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In Mississippi’s defense, it does not allow either personal belief or religious exemptions. Alabama and Florida do allow religious exemptions but not personal belief ones. (Source: National Conference of State Legislatures)
I live in Alabama and have a school age child, and my (anecdotal) experience is that the public schools are pretty solid about vaccination requirements. I have no idea about the private schools, most of which are religiously affiliated, because No, Just No, that’s not us. The anti-vax crowd here also tends toward homeschooling, which is ridiculously easy in Alabama, which is its own way of vaccination avoidance without any pesky paperwork.
ETA: just searching “state vaccination exemptions” made me ragey when I saw how many of the top results were anti-vax sites.
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I admit I was more poking fun at the idea that FL, AL, and MS are frequently known for stupid human behavior. I could also have included New Jersey, Arizona, either Dakota, Arkansas, either Carolina…etc etc.
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No worries, I get it (I live here, sigh).
“Thank God for Mississippi” is an old giggle in Alabama because as low as Alabama is in so many metrics, Mississippi is usually lower. But in this case, Mississippi wins. I wonder if having a large portion of the population dependent on meager public health resources contributes to forcing that through.
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