Anti-vax legislation combats a growing threat to public health safety
Audra Linsner | Assistant Illustration Editor
Parts of New York state have declared a state of emergency over the severity of the recent measles outbreaks and have banned unvaccinated minors from public spaces.
Recent cases of measles outbreaks across New York state have prompted new measures that allow minors to consent to vaccination without parental consent. It all stems from public safety concerns that the anti-vaccination movement poses.
Passing legislation to prevent the spread of anti-vax practices will be a small step in combating the misinformation around vaccination. Minors who want to have agency over their own well-being should be granted that freedom.
“One may say that it’s one’s choice in a free country in obtaining certain liberties in their decisions, but diseases themselves are very expensive and unpleasant to treat for the individual and increases the risk of infecting other people. There’s a negative cost creating a spillover effect when somebody else is harmed,” said Anthony LoSasso, executive director of the American Society of Health Economists and a professor of health policy and administration at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Anna Henderson | Digital Design Editor
Democratic lawmakers in New York state are pushing to end religious exemptions. Religious exemptions are what allow certain people to say no to state-mandated vaccines based on faith.
The exemptions are a problem because people get out of receiving the shots that are necessary for keeping schools healthy and safe. It poses a major risk for those who are vaccinated.
Parts of New York state have declared a state of emergency over the severity of the measles outbreaks and have banned unvaccinated minors from public spaces. Many of those affected by the Rockland County outbreaks were members of the Orthodox Jewish community.
Anna Henderson | Digital Design Editor
Social media platforms are currently taking measures to ban anti-vax content from search engines and ads in order to resist the spread of misinformation in regard to vaccination health. Social media amplification is largely correlated to the increase of unvaccinated populations.
The main belief of anti-vaxxers is that, by getting a disease such as measles, it will bring you immunity after. What actually prevents disease is herd immunity or the resistance of communicable diseases through vaccination. This is what contributed to the eradication of diseases like polio and smallpox.
Eradicated diseases like measles and mumps are making a comeback despite being declared eliminated two decades ago. Preventing anti-vax practices is necessary to prevent future outbreaks.
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Brittany Zelada is a junior communications and rhetorical studies major. Her column appears bi-weekly. She can be reached at bezelada@syr.edu.
Published on March 27, 2019 at 10:31 pm
