WV Has High Childhood Vax Rates, But Don't Worry - State Lawmakers Are Going To Fix That!

[hatrack]

While West Virginia faces numerous challenges to improving health, the childhood vaccination rate has been a state point of pride. Since the 2017 school year, the state’s kindergartners have consistently had higher vaccination rates than the national average. Health experts say that’s a product of laws. West Virginia is one of only five states which does not allow public and private schools students to forgo vaccination for religious or philosophical reasons.

Shannon McBee, the state’s epidemiologist, told West Virginia lawmakers that the law is a big reason why West Virginia, unlike other regions, hasn’t experienced a measles outbreak in recent history. “West Virginia is considered to have an exemplary immunization model,” she said during a presentation on Tuesday to the Joint Committee on Children and Families during legislative interim meetings.

But state lawmakers at the meeting didn’t celebrate the public health success. Instead, delegates and state senators on the committee expressed skepticism about West Virginia’s childhood vaccine laws. Legislators’ criticisms included claims that the government was restricting people’s religious freedoms and that the current laws were keeping people from moving to West Virginia. They repeatedly questioned Dr. Joseph Evans, a pediatrician and Marshall University professor, about whether the medical system and laws were serving state residents well.

“You do make it sound like having this vaccination just provides a protection,” Sen. Patricia Rucker, R-Jefferson, said to Evans. “Have you not ever heard of people getting an illness even though they were vaccinated against it?” Rucker repeatedly criticized vaccine mandates, pointing to neighboring states with looser vaccine laws and expressing concerns that pharmaceutical companies could be lobbying for vaccine mandates.

EDIT

https://mountainstatespotlight.org/2023/10/17/wv-legislature-childhood-vaccine-skepticism/

[Bettie]

1. FFS....they really are a death cult

she wants little kids to die of preventable diseases.

[AntivaxHunters]

2. This will kill people

WTF?

[Zambero]

3. More traditional values

Medieval to be precise.

[Diamond_Dog]

4. The pro life party, of course

[ExciteBike66]

5. Suffer the children to go see Jesus a bit sooner...

[mainer]

6. The "arrogance" of knowledge and science

This quote in particular struck me as particularly infuriating:

Sen. Michael Azinger, R-Wood, went further. After listening to an hour of health experts explaining how West Virginia’s vaccine laws are keeping people healthy, Azinger said all the presentations were filled with arrogance.