Vaccine hesitancy


Surveys take pulse on growing number of Americans who support option to opt children out of vaccines

Researchers say the number of Americans who support letting parents choose whether to vaccinate their children has grown since the Covid-19 pandemic.

(CN) — Most Americans still say children should be vaccinated against preventable diseases, but a pair of surveys published Tuesday found noteworthy declines in support for requiring inoculation alongside a decrease in distrust against the federal agencies that set public policy.

A survey conducted by the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia found a four-point decline in support for mandating parents to get their children vaccinated against preventable diseases like measles, mumps and rubella. Months before the World Health Organization declared Covid-19 a global pandemic, Annenberg’s 2019 survey found 77% of Americans polled supported mandating the vaccines for children, compared to the 73% of Americans who supported similar inoculation mandates this year.

Among Republicans, researchers said they found “large increases in support for parents to opt out of having their children vaccinated for medical, religious, and personal or philosophical reasons."

Regardless of political party, most Americans surveyed support letting parents opt out of vaccines for medical reasons, while Democrats and independents are less likely to support religious or personal reasons for abstaining from inoculation.

Although vocal minorities have long questioned the safety and efficacy of vaccines, the groups have found increasing political power with President Donald Trump considering blocking school's ability to mandate vaccination along with nominating Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a controversial vaccine skeptic, to lead the nation’s health department.

Before running for president, Kennedy led the Children’s Health Defense, an organization advocating for individual parental choice when it comes to vaccines rather than public health mandates. Kennedy’s confirmation hearing begins Wednesday before the U.S. Senate.

https://www.timeschronicle.ca/concerning-trend-of-vaccine-hesitancy/


A uniquely American phenomenon? Hardly, read on............

And here in Canada the overall childhood vaccination rate is declining, said Dr. Jason Wong, chief medical officer at the BC Centre for Disease Control. Wong is the deputy provincial health officer and a clinical associate professor in the University of British Columbia school of population and public health.

On Canada’s East Coast, where vaccinations are readily available, three out of every 10 kids are not vaccinated against measles.

It’s not too different on the West Coast.

https://www.courthousenews.com/surveys-take-pulse-on-growing-number-of-americans-who-support-option-to-opt-children-out-of-vaccines/

What's worse, this is actually not a new phenomenon.............

Vaccine hesitancy is not a new phenomenon. Its origins can be traced back to 1796, when  Edward Jenner’s smallpox vaccine was first developed. Although an impressive feat of modern medicine, it was initially met with protests and outrage.

https://www.bu.edu/sph/news/articles/2022/covid-19-vaccine-hesitancy-how-did-we-get-here-and-what-do-we-do-now/

Seems we haven't gotten much brighter since 1796




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

That Uplifting Tweet You Just Shared? A Russian Troll Sent It

Image
Here’s what Russia’s 2020 disinformation operations look like, according to two experts on social media and propaganda. By   DARREN LINVILL   &   PATRICK WARREN Internet trolls don’t troll. Not the professionals at least. Professional trolls don’t go on social media to antagonize liberals or belittle conservatives. They are not narrow minded, drunk or angry. They don’t lack basic English language skills. They certainly aren’t  “somebody sitting on their bed that weighs 400 pounds,”  as the president once put it. Your stereotypical trolls do exist on social media, but the amateurs aren’t a threat to Western democracy. Professional trolls, on the other hand, are the tip of the spear in the new digital, ideological battleground. To combat the threat they pose, we must first understand them — and take them seriously. MORE: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/russia-troll-2020-election-interference-twitter-916482/ P...
Read more

The Nightmare Scenario That Keeps Election Lawyers Up At Night -- And Could Hand Trump A Second Term

Image
The Nightmare Scenario That Keeps Election Lawyers Up At Night -- And Could Hand Trump A Second Term   (Photo: Photos: Getty Images) Americans will almost certainly go to bed on Nov. 3 without knowing who won the presidential election. Since millions of people will vote by mail, constraints on time and resources will slow ballot counting into potentially a weeks-long process. Voting patterns suggest it’s likely that President  Donald Trump  could end Election Day in the lead in certain key states, only to be overtaken by Democratic opponent  Joe Biden  when more votes are tallied.  This could create a nightmare scenario during the three months stretching from Election Day to the Jan. 20 inauguration: a battle on the state and congressional level over who is the legitimate winner. This could include Congress reconvening on Jan. 6, presided over by Vice President  Mike Pence , with no consensus over its potential role in choosing the next president. This...
Read more

Philosophical Question #14 – Lifestyle Choices

Image
Here is an interesting question in my list of philosophical questions: 1.) Should governments have penalties for those who live unhealthy lifestyles? A list of unhealthy lifestyles would include things like smoking, drinking, illegal drugs, prostitution, and other “vice” type activities. I guess the “government penalties” would be referring to monetary punishments, withholding medical treatments (insurance companies would love that), possibly imposing/regulating very high (exorbitant) prices on things considered unhealthy in order to cut down on their use, and other possibilities. 2.) Or, would you say that living an unhealthy lifestyle, likely resulting in a LOT of eventual personal pain and suffering, should be punishment enough for unhealthy lifestyles? When people make bad choices in life, often in their youth where ignorance and immediate gratification takes them over,  3.) Should a society be obligated to help "fix" them, by way of tax money?   Is that part of...
Read more