It’s time to revisit vaccine exemption
In a rare show of bipartisanship, more than 90 members of the U.S. Congress introduced a resolution on Friday re-affirming that vaccines save lives.
That may seem an obvious, even unnecessary gesture to the overwhelming majority of Texans who dutifully ensure their children are inoculated against what are largely preventable illnesses.
But in the Lone Star State, where parents also only need to check a box indicating they understand the risks of not vaccinating their children before sending them to public or private school — and who are doing so in greater numbers than ever before — it’s certainly a helpful reminder.
And it’s particularly sobering given the increase in the incidence of communicable diseases — like measles — thought to have been eradicated long ago.
Tarrant County reported its first measles case of 2015 last month. And a recent outbreak at Disneyland in California afflicted dozens of children.
It wasn’t always so easy for Texans to forgo immunizations.
Until 2003, the state allowed medical exemptions (for children with weakened immune systems) and religious exemptions that applied only to members of a “recognized church or religious denomination.”
But just over a decade ago, the Legislature passed and Gov. Rick Perry signed a bill that broadened the exemption to include any philosophical or personal objections by parents of children in public or private school.
That’s when the number of unvaccinated kids entering school began to rise dramatically.
According to the Texas Department of State Health Services, the first year the law was in place only 2,314 students opted out of immunizations.
By the 2007-2008 school year, the number of children skipping vaccinations for “reasons of conscience” more than quadrupled.
And a decade later, the number of unvaccinated children has ballooned to 38,197.
It’s worth noting that these numbers (which are self-reported by private schools and independent school districts) still mean that less than 1 percent of all students in Texas are “conscientiously objecting” to getting their shots.
But the closer that number gets to zero, the better.
Vaccines are designed to help the population achieve herd immunity. When the vast majority of people are immunized against easily transmitted diseases, it reduces the risk of exposure for everyone in the community, even those who refuse vaccines.
So in Texas, it’s not necessarily the number of students who are unvaccinated, but the growing trend toward opt-outs that is worthy of some worry.
The trend has alarmed at least one local politician. State Rep. Jason Villalba, R-Dallas, says he will propose legislation that will eliminate conscientious exemptions for students attending public schools.
Private schools would still be able to decide whether to accept exemptions for reasons of conscience.
While a closer look at the state data for Tarrant County reveals that the highest percentages of unvaccinated students can be found in small private schools — the county’s large public school districts generally have low percentages of unvaccinated students — Villalba’s proposal still makes sense.
Given recent outbreaks of childhood diseases that have re-emerged alongside an anti-vaccination movement based on faulty science, it’s probably time to revisit a law with an overly permissive exemption, especially as it applies to children attending state-funded institutions.
Texas lawmakers generally oppose what they see as unnecessary mandates on personal freedoms. Villalba’s bill will hardly be such an imposition.
As he told the Houston Chronicle, “If you’re going to send your children to the public schools, then the public school children that are already there deserve the protection of having those vaccines.”
We quite agree. Please vaccinate your kids.
This story was originally published February 13, 2015 at 7:27 PM with the headline "It’s time to revisit vaccine exemption."