Vaccine Archives » Lynda Waddington

10Apr 2019 by Lynda Waddington

One less barrier to vaccination

Gazette Column

Amid measles outbreak and emergency mandates, Vatican makes position change public For vaccination advocates, there’s bad news and good news. Let’s start with the bad. Although deemed eradicated in 2000, measles is making a record comeback in the United States. Health officials have, for the second week in a row, added dozens of new cases, bringing the nationwide total to 465 as of last week. Not only does this mark the highest number of cases in a five-year period, highly contagious measles is now present in a third of U.S. states, including Iowa neighbors Illinois and Missouri. More measles cases occurred in the first three months of 2019 than in all of 2018, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Although 2014 remains the year since 2000 with the most…

Lawmakers should end religious exemption

Gazette Column

Iowa lawmakers dispatched two proposals that would have allowed more parents to forgo required and necessary vaccinations for their children. That's good, but not enough. It's time to take a closer look at the state's lax vaccination rules. According to the Iowa Department of Public Health, more parents are seeking religious exemptions to vaccination requirements - four times the number from only 15 years ago. At the county level, the percentage of parents taking a religious exemption varies widely. In Buchanan County, for example, 356 religious exemptions were filed in a total enrollment of 3,515. Larger Linn County had 744 religious exemptions from a total enrollment of nearly 40,000. That's partly because state law doesn't require parents to cite specific religious teaching against vaccinations to claim the exemption. All it…

Vaccine bill risks health for freedom

Featured, Gazette Column

A bill working its way through the Republican-controlled Iowa Legislature casts public safety concerns aside, and relies on “freedom” as justification for putting children’s health at risk. On Thursday, a three-member House subcommittee approved a bill sponsored by Iowa Rep. Ken Rizer, R-Cedar Rapids. The bill inserts a “personal conviction” clause into state law regarding childhood vaccinations. If passed, no parent will be required to vaccinate children enrolled in care facilities or public schools. A news article in The Gazette noted “Republicans argued the immunization mandate violates Iowans’ religious liberties and personal freedoms.” Hogwash. Iowa Code 139A.8 addresses vaccination requirements for children enrolling in “any licensed child care center or elementary or secondary school.” It lists the various immunizations children are required to obtain before enrolling — diphtheria, whooping cough,…