While some "controversy" about the effectiveness and safety of vaccines can be found from various sources, an overwhelming majority of physicians and scientists view vaccines as safe and effective. To highlight this position the Wisconsin Medical Society recently released a position statement in support of removing all non-medical exemptions from state vaccination requirements. While changing the Wisconsin immunization exemptions is one way to improve the rates of immunizations, there are other strategies that can and should be used to improve immunization rates.
Some children who don't get immunized have parents who don't have any objection to getting their child immunized, but the child is still without the protection that vaccines provide. Some barriers are financial in nature. Even with the increases in the number of people with insurance, some still fall in the gap between eligibility for subsidies and qualifying for Medicaid, especially in the state that refused the proposed Medicaid expansion. Lower out-of-pocket costs have been show to correlate with higher vaccination rates. Another invention that has been shown to increase immunization rates is something as simple as a telephone call. Parents receive a call when vaccines for their children are due, or when they are behind schedule. Making vaccines available at more places can also increase rates. Programs in schools, day-cares, or pharmacies would make it more convenient for parents to have their children immunized. A related approach is to provide vaccines together with the WIC program.
I think that changing or removing the exemptions to getting vaccines is important and should be done. That isn't the end of the story, the other approaches I listed above and many more can and should be implemented.
If you'd like to read more, check out the papers I used as sources for this post here or here.
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