Deborah Klein Walker: Mandatory school vaccinations keep children, communities healthy

To The Daily Sun,

Early childhood immunizations have been shown to be safe and cost-effective tools for protecting infants and children from potentially life-threatening, preventable diseases. Vaccinations, declared by the CDC as one of the “Ten Great Public Health Achievements” in the 20th century, have resulted in the eradication of smallpox, elimination of poliomyelitis in the Americas, and control of measles, rubella, tetanus, diphtheria, and other infectious diseases in the United States and across the globe.

Vaccinations not only protect individuals from disease and illness but also protect others in the community from disease. As a young child before the polio vaccine was available, I remember my parents being protective of what I did because of the threat of polio which caused paralysis in many of its victims. Most recently, the spread of COVID-19 has shown us the threat to the public’s health from the lack of vaccinations within a community.

Current New Hampshire law allows for medical and religious exemptions for students in schools. Since 2015, less than 2.5% of children in grades Kindergarten through 12 in NH’s public and private schools were granted religious or medical exemptions or considered otherwise not up-to-date on their vaccinations. Allowing a philosophical exemption, as proposed in HB 1035, could open the door for many more families to send their children to school unvaccinated and at risk for spreading diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, chicken pox, hepatitis B, measles, mumps, and rubella.

In other states that allow exemptions for philosophical or non-religious/medical reasons, data has shown significant increases in geographic cluster-based exemption requests and associated increased disease rates in those clusters, especially for childhood illnesses like chickenpox, which can lead to debilitating adult shingles; pertussis, which can be deadly for infected adults who have asthma; and rubella, which can cause devastating birth defects and newborn illness when under-protected pregnant people are exposed. Unvaccinated children who survive infection with these diseases can experience significant long-term developmental and health effects, which often place unexpected burdens on families, schools and communities.

Currently, 18 states in the U.S. allow philosophical exemptions for mandatory school vaccinations. On average, states that have allowed non-religious/non-medical exemptions have seen their exemption rates double. This data suggests that NH could have around 13,000 unvaccinated children in NH schools if this bill passes. Outbreaks of measles in communities in the last five years have led California and Vermont to be more restrictive about exemptions from childhood vaccination requirements in schools.

Therefore, as a public health practitioner, educator and researcher for over 45 years, I find it unconscionable that New Hampshire would limit the implementation of one of the most effective prevention measures available — mandatory school vaccinations.

Deborah Klein Walker

Meredith