Opposition to U.S. school vaccine mandates rose during pandemic -survey
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[December 17, 2022]
By Shawana Alleyne-Morris
(Reuters) -Opposition to COVID-19 vaccine mandates that became
increasingly political during the pandemic appears to have spilled over
to inoculations long required for school children in the United States,
with many more adults now against them, according to a new survey.
Nearly three in 10 adults (28%) said parents should be able to decide
not to vaccinate their children for measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) in
a recent Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) survey. That was up from 16% in
a 2019 Pew Research Center poll conducted before the COVID-19 pandemic,
KFF researchers said.
Among parents of children under age 18, 35% oppose requiring those
childhood vaccines, up from 23% in 2019, KFF found.
"School vaccine mandates are a public health tool that works, is safe,
and increases vaccination rates to keep whole communities safe," said
Dr. David Ratner, a pediatric infectious diseases expert from New York
University Grossman School of Medicine, who was not involved in the
survey. "We're at risk of losing that tool if this trend continues."
Most of those surveyed - 71% - still believe children should be
vaccinated to attend public schools, the researchers reported.
Rising anti-vaccine sentiment, often fueled by misinformation, has led
to U.S. outbreaks of once nearly eradicated measles in recent years.
Routine immunization programs were also badly disrupted during the
pandemic, health officials have said.
A measles outbreak in central Ohio has now sickened at least 77
children, including 29 who were hospitalized. Most were either
unvaccinated or had received just one of two recommended doses of MMR
vaccine, according to City of Columbus Public Health.
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A vial of measles, mumps and rubella
vaccine and an information sheet is seen at Boston Children's
Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts February 26, 2015. REUTERS/Brian
Snyder
Measles is highly contagious and can
cause serious complications including brain damage and deafness, and
can be fatal.
"All you really need is one neighborhood or town where the
vaccination rate drops significantly, and you can have preventable
diseases starting to spread," Ratner said.
Opposition to required childhood inoculations was strongest among
those who identified as Republican in the survey, with 44% now
opposed to childhood school vaccine mandates, up from 20% before the
pandemic. Among those identifying as Democrats, 88% still support
school vaccine mandates.
Although childhood vaccine recommendations are made by the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on
Immunization Practices, school immunization requirements are set by
individual states.
Even with the growing opposition to requiring childhood vaccination
for attending school, 85% of adults surveyed - and 80% of those who
are parents - said they believe the benefits of MMR vaccines
outweigh their risk.
The survey was conducted between Nov. 29 and Dec. 8, 2022, online
and by telephone in English and Spanish among a nationally
representative sample of 1,259 U.S. adults, KFF said.
(Reporting by Shawana Alleyne-Morris; editing by Nancy Lapid and
Bill Berkrot)
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