2w ago

Childhood vaccination rates, a health bright spot in struggling states, are slipping

www.nbcnews.com Childhood vaccination rates, a health bright spot in struggling states, are slipping

Mississippi, Tennessee and West Virginia have some of the highest childhood vaccination rates. Experts worry a rising tide of vaccine skepticism is causing those bright spots to dim.

Summary

Childhood vaccination rates in Mississippi, Tennessee, and West Virginia, traditionally high, are declining due to rising vaccine skepticism.

CDC data shows the percentage of kindergartners with vaccine exemptions reached a record 3.3% nationwide in 2023-24.

Experts link this trend to anti-vaccine movements and "health freedom" advocacy.

This trend could lead to a resurgence of preventable diseases like measles and whooping cough, as seen in states with low vaccine uptake like Florida and Georgia.

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11 comments

Good. Lessons need to be learned the hard way it seems.
- Except that these lessons will come at the expense of people who had no choice. Children and the immunocompromised. The adults deciding not to vaccinate their kids are likely protected.
  
  And there's a very good chance there will be no lessons learned, only blame shifted to the democrats or some other group, for secretly having a biolab. There are even those, who see vaccine preventable diseases as a "cleanser", which will "get rid of those unworthy of life and resources from our species". There are legit eugenicists, who now say "autism was caused by vaccines, by letting the human trash survive measles".
  
  100% agree with both points. The disconnect is the timeline each considers. As a father I am deeply empathic for the children that are not able to advocate for themselves and the immunocompromised that are basically left to be assaulted by other’s ignorance.
  But longer term, think multigenerational, the higher death rates for the anti-vax crowd may be the correction that leads to better overall outcomes for humanity.
  
  You said it better than I lazily did.
- Dark and awful thing to say.
  The people who will die most are those in already weak health who are unable to vaccinate or children who had no choice.

11 comments