Hundreds rally to preserve right not to vaccinate children amid measles outbreak https://t.co/y2BGUhjRem pic.twitter.com/kHsO3xvYQE
— CBS News (@CBSNews) February 9, 2019
Washington state is in the midst of yet another measles outbreak, with over 50 cases already and a public health emergency declared in Clark County. Back in 2015, the state garnered the dubious distinction of having the first measles death in the United States in 12 years. That death brought up discussions about whether to do away with the “philosophical or personal beliefs” exemption to vaccinating a child before they’re allowed to enter a public school, which inevitably led to a flame war between Jim Carrey and half of Twitter.
Only three states — California, Mississippi, and West Virginia — have entirely banned non-medical exemptions to vaccinating public school attendees, but Washington state lawmakers are now considering a similar rule. CBS reports that “hundreds” of anti-vaccine protesters gathered on Friday to declare they have a right to non-medical exemptions for their public school-attending children.
An estimated 7.9% of Clark County, Washington, kindergartners in the 2017-18 school year were unvaccinated, with most of those kids’ parents citing non-medical reasons for refusing vaccines. For herd immunity to work, at least 90 to 95% of people need to be vaccinated, and we’re seeing the effects of ignoring the science. Despite measles being officially declared “eliminated in the United States” in 2000, the number of measles cases have been increasing ever since, with 79 cases already in 2019, most of them in Washington state. The disease is so contagious that an unvaccinated person has a 90% chance of catching it if they are near an infected person, and the virus can linger in a room for up to two hours.
I’ve ranted about the topic of vaccines many, many, many, many, many times, so I’ll spare you another lecture. Instead, let’s look in on Twitter and see how people are reacting to the anti-vaccine protest…
“What do we want?”
“Our kids to die!”
“When do we want it?”
“Unexpectedly, from a preventable 19th-century steamship disease!” https://t.co/7PBZax8mQB— Jess Dweck (@TheDweck) February 9, 2019
today in people of the internet: “LETS NOT MOM SHAME OVER VACCINES OK”
like listen Patricia not mom shaming is for things like when you put your baby in their own room or when you start solid foods not for starting a smallpox epidemic
— Brianna Whitrock (Shrum) (@BriannaShrum) February 10, 2019
The only thing that can stop a bad kid with measles is a good kid with measles https://t.co/H56CFA0fpW
— Orli Matlow (@HireMeImFunny) February 9, 2019
https://twitter.com/BillCorbett/status/1094074051100848128
I hope someone vaccinated their kids while they were at this https://t.co/7PBZax8mQB
— Jess Dweck (@TheDweck) February 9, 2019
https://twitter.com/JRehling/status/1094288260816285697
I'd avoid this gathering of anti-vaxxers like the plague. https://t.co/sesODt8HYM
— Phil (Newsletter link in bio) Plait (@BadAstronomer) February 9, 2019
totally agree – no parent should be forced to see their child live to adulthood because of science https://t.co/Ov6mvFQwBQ
— Mike Drucker (@MikeDrucker) February 9, 2019
Not vaccinating your kids is known as a 4th trimester abortion
— sarah schauer 🦂 (@sarahschauer) February 9, 2019
https://twitter.com/DrSlutty/status/1091856096548085762
https://twitter.com/jordantaco7/status/1093968786066210817
Reminder that anti-vaccine ideology is inherently ableist at its heart and basically tells parents it is better for their kid to be dead than autistic and makes parents feel like they failed if they vaccinate. https://t.co/F5q3oZEjz9
— Eric Michael Garcia (@EricMGarcia) February 9, 2019
Anti-vaxxers really are dumb as fuck. “Vaccines give your kids autism.” In no world is autism “worse” than measles, cholera, mumps, typhoid, malaria, etc etc. If you’re afraid of autism over all that, you shouldn’t be a parent.
— sarah schauer 🦂 (@sarahschauer) February 9, 2019
Today’s tea:
) ) )
) ( ) )
_(___(____)____(___(__ _
Anti vaxxers hate disabled kids /
more than vaccines. /
/
___________/— Neal Carter he/him (@nealcarter) February 9, 2019
https://twitter.com/GucciLabCoat/status/1094636398508953601
https://twitter.com/PeterGleick/status/1094458544680660992
A teen rebelling against his parents by getting vaccinated is the most 2019 headline I can think of. https://t.co/b04d2jZwel
— Heather #JesusWouldWearAMask (@becomingcliche) February 9, 2019
we should turn that big patch of garbage in the pacific ocean into a floating dumbass colony. https://t.co/52jQ7FwcJG
— bobby (@bobby) February 9, 2019
Scientist (hopping into time machine in 1939): See ya, suckers! I’m off to 2019, where no one is arguing about Hitler, the Earth being flat, blackface, vaccines or concentration camps!
— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) February 9, 2019
There is a little good news, thankfully. Demand for measles vaccinations have risen 500% in Clark County as compared to this time last year. The director of public health in the county, Alan Melnick, didn’t mince words, saying, “I would rather it not take an outbreak for this to happen.”
(Via CBS, New Atlas, Medical Xpress, KHN, and the CDC)