The Daily Fix: California Colleges to Require Vaccine as Nation Grapples With Measles Outbreak
The 10-campus University of California system has expanded its vaccination requirements starting with the class of 2017. They will include immunization for measles.
Officials said that the new rules had been in the works for years but became more urgent after the current measles outbreak began. Since most of the students will be adults, administrators don’t expect the same pushback against vaccination seen from parents of kindergarteners—a resistance pronounced in some of the Golden State’s wealthier districts.
To opt out of immunizing their children, some parents claim personal-belief exemptions. In Marin County, one of California’s wealthiest, exemption rates are triple the state level. In the private San Francisco Waldorf School, only 35 percent of kindergarteners have had their measles shots.
In contrast, five public schools in East Palo Alto, one of the poorest cities in the state, have MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccination rates between 96 and 100 percent. This reflects a nationwide trend. Mississippi, which has among the lowest median incomes in America, has the highest rate of vaccination. Why? Parents there aren’t allowed to avoid immunizing their kids because of personal beliefs. Mississippi and West Virginia are the only two states that ban the option, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Other states, including California, are now looking into limiting vaccine exemptions. But a number of legislators contend that such restrictions would violate personal liberty.
“To me that doesn’t sound like the freedom that our founders intended for the United States,” Republican state Sen. Tim Knopp of Oregon told Bloomberg. “And so what I think we need to do is get a better understanding of the current outbreak of measles, where it started and why. Was it a bad vaccine?”
That thinking goes beyond party lines. State Sen. Martin Malave Dilan, a Democrat from New York, introduced a bill in January to let parents in the state claim a philosophical exemption. His spokesman told Bloomberg that the senator believes in immunization but thinks nonreligious people should be able to opt out of vaccines as well.
In other news…
Hope for U.S. Hostage: The Islamic State alleged on Friday that a 26-year-old female aid worker from Arizona, the only known American hostage left in the hands of the group, died in an air strike in Syria. The U.S. hasn’t confirmed any evidence to support the claim, and the woman’s parents remain hopeful. (via The Associated Press)
Brian Williams Faces Scrutiny: NBC News is conducting an internal investigation on Williams and his claims involving his 2003 reporting in Iraq and 2005 coverage of Hurricane Katrina. The anchor has already apologized for misleading viewers by claiming on air that he was in a helicopter struck by a grenade in Iraq. (via The Washington Post)
The Right to Die in Canada: In a unanimous decision, Canada’s Supreme Court struck down a ban against doctor-assisted suicide. A civil rights group brought the case on behalf of two women who suffered from degenerative illnesses. They have since died. Recently, 29-year-old Britanny Maynard, who traveled from California to Oregon to go through euthanasia, sparked debates in the U.S., where the practice is illegal in 45 states. (via BBC)
Wonder Women: The week after news of an all-female Ghostbusters delighted the Internet, Marvel Comics announced a female-only Avengers team. The authors say feedback from social media stressed the demand for more female representation in comic books. But the new series is hardly groundbreaking for Marvel; it’s the brand’s 15th title team to feature an all-ladies cast. (via Time)
No, the Subway Doesn’t Have the Plague: That’s what New York City’s health department said after this week’s release of a study claiming to have discovered bubonic plague–causing bacteria in the Big Apple’s rat-infested subway stations. Researchers from Weill Cornell Medical College admitted on Friday that what they found could have been another bacterium, not the plague that killed at least a third of 14th-century Europe. (via The New York Times)
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Original article from TakePart
