Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by chromas on Monday June 17 2019, @01:12AM   Printer-friendly
from the multivac dept.

Anti-Vaxxers Defeated: NY Bans Exemptions as Doctors Vote to Step up Fight:

Anti-vaccine advocates received a blow in New York Thursday as state lawmakers banned non-medical exemptions based on religious beliefsā€”and there may be more blows coming.

Also on Thursday, the American Medical Association adopted a new policy to step up its fight against such non-medical exemptions. The AMA, the country's largest physicians' group and one of the largest spenders on lobbying, has always strongly support pediatric vaccination and opposed non-medical exemptions. But under the new policy changes, the association will now "actively advocate" for states to eliminate any laws that allow for non-medical exemptions.

"As evident from the measles outbreaks currently impacting communities in several states, when individuals are not immunized as a matter of personal preference or misinformation, they put themselves and others at risk of disease," AMA Board Member E. Scott Ferguson, M.D. said in a statement. "The AMA strongly supports efforts to eliminate non-medical exemptions from immunization, and we will continue to actively urge policymakers to do so."

The religious exemption ban in New York comes at a critical time. The state is at the forefront of a nationwide resurgence of measles, with active outbreaks that have sickened hundreds and splintered into other states.

"This administration has taken aggressive action to contain the measles outbreak, but given its scale, additional steps are needed to end this public health crisis," New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a statement after signing the ban on religious exemptions. "While I understand and respect freedom of religion, our first job is to protect the public health, and by signing this measure into law, we will help prevent further transmissions and stop this outbreak right in its tracks."

Sudden outbreak of common sense?


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 4, Informative) by khallow on Monday June 17 2019, @03:54AM

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Monday June 17 2019, @03:54AM (#856490) Journal

    Could someone explain how vaccinne's only work if everyone gets them?

    Work better. Measles spreads in the first place because in a mostly uninfected, vulnerable population it can infect more than one person on average. That means at low incidents of measles in a unvaccinated population, it can spread exponentially. Near universal measles vaccination means that even with an imperfect vaccine, it infects less than one additional person on average, meaning that measles breakouts die out quickly.

    And the key point here is that we gain this sufficient immunity to measles without having to catch measles (forgoing the week or more of being sick and the many bigger risks of measles than of its vaccines).

    Starting Score:    1  point
    Moderation   +3  
       Informative=4, Overrated=1, Total=5
    Extra 'Informative' Modifier   0  

    Total Score:   4