I recommend reading The New Yorker on what is becoming our federalized--as opposed to national--vaccine policy.
Given Kennedy’s pedigree of vaccine skepticism, one might have expected him to take a sledgehammer to the bedrock of public health: the injections that have protected us against numerous infectious diseases for generations. In reality, the impact of his policies has been more like that of a freeze-thaw cycle. Rocks have tiny fissures into which water can seep; when the temperature drops, the water expands into ice, exerting pressure and widening the cracks. The cycle repeats and, eventually, the rock begins to fall apart. For the nation’s public-health infrastructure, Kennedy’s tenure has been one freeze-thaw cycle after another. The cracks are getting bigger.
Our requirements that children be vaccinated to attend school has been an incredible public health success:
The C.D.C. estimates that routine childhood vaccination in the U.S. has saved more than a million lives, averted hundreds of millions of illnesses, and led to trillions of dollars in societal savings.
Something to remember? We aren't actually all that divided on this one:
According to a new KFF-Washington Post survey, more than eighty per cent of Americans say that public schools should require students to get immunized against diseases such as polio and measles.
Don't forget to get your fall flu and COVID shots!
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