My impression is that we get away with 10%. Maybe at about 20-30%, we begin to notice. In Orange county, 50% are not vaccinated. That’s a lot by any measure. Outbreak was going to happen with that many unvaccinated. If I lived in that community, I would be vigilent with vaccination.
If you have a chronic condition you can sometimes get the shingles vaccine before the age of 60 AND for free. I got the vaccine at age 51 (and my insurance paid for it) because I have diabetes.
I got the shingles vaccine without any chronic conditions (paid by insurance) just for asking for it.
I went in for my annual physical just after my 60th birthday (planned it that way) so I could get my shingles vaccine. They said they had to check to see if it was covered and made me come back a second time. Grrr. I told them I didnt care- I’d pay, but no, they wanted to verify first and they couldn’t do it while I was there. So I left and had to make a special, second trip to get my vaccine-- which as I knew was covered by insurance.
Here’s more acuurate numbers concerning vaccination rates, 92% minimum.
http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-measles-preschool-20150204-story.html
Right ^^^^. I knew that you definitely want to aim for above 90% rate across the board. I was alluding to the fact that some posters were saying they knew “lots” of people in situations who didn’t immunize. Does that mean three of the 10 families you hang with? Or what? “Lots” can vary in interpretation.
I have a chronic condition and got the shingles vaccine at Costco (it had the lowest price in our state and had the vaccine in stock). It was just under $200. I submitted the claim to insurance but they refused to pay because I was under 60, even tho I have chronic health conditions. I appealed and lost again, but have no regrets. Have heard of some who have gotten it covered tho under age 60 since. I believe insurers may now be more willing to pay (I got mine shortly after it was 1st available).
I think some vaccines should be mandatory, with only medical exceptions.
I do think new vaccines should not be mandatory - new drugs need time to see if there are major side effects.
Also some vaccine should never be mandatory - basically those that are for diseases that are not highly contagious or not severe.
I think the problem with my idea is money though - if a vaccine is mandatory then of course “someone” - insurance / govt should pay for it. Then you have all pharma companies lobbying to make their new vaccine mandatory so they get a sure return on the investment. So then we end up with every new vaccine becoming mandatory.
Which makes me think mandatory is a slippery slope after all.
We also need to separate mandatory from required by children attending public school because currently nothing is anywhere close to mandatory.
Two California state legislators have introduced a bill to remove the ‘personal beliefs’ exemption from vaccinations. But they would leave the religious exemption. There are a few thousand religious exemptors and tens of thousands of personal exemptors. I don’t really see the difference. Neither is based on science.
I agree that only some vaccinations should be mandatory. Those that spread contagion by airborne means should be mandatory, esp. those that carry lifetime or near lifetime immunity. Flu, which mutates every year, which makes the vaccine less effective, I wouldn’t make mandatory. Nor HPV. It’s new and not an airborne virus.
How mandatory something needs to be varies depending on how important it is, and how likely people are to do it voluntarily. For example, right now we don’t need a military draft, because enough people are volunteering. When we did have a draft, it was possible to get enough recruits while still allowing some exemptions–if the exemptions took up too many of the potential recruits, you’d have to tighten them up.
It seems to me that we’ve reached a point, at least in some states, where the rate of vaccination is insufficient to allow it to remain as voluntary as it is. It would probably be sufficient to eliminate some of the exemptions applicable to kids attending public schools.
I’d agree that mandatory is a slippery slope. Once they realize how sick one can get, people will get vaccinated. Why make it mandatory if more than 90% are going to get vaccinated voluntarily? I’d hate to be forced to get a flu vaccine. Last time I got a flu which may also have been my first was about 20 years ago.
^^^I have the exact same thoughts. I do wish people would get vaccinated for measles, etc., but it’s such a slippery slope. Like @Iglooo, I would not get the flu vaccine, period. I have never gotten it, and the one and only time I had the flu was when I was a young child, and I have lived in a major city for years, taking public transportation with lots of sick people every winter.
^^Because if it isn’t mandatory, 90% may be an unattainable vaccination rate. That’s how we got a measles outbreak in the first place, people just think it won’t happen to them. It’s lovely that you haven’t gotten the flu in 20 years, if that’s what you are saying. But not everyone is that lucky, and some people have serious complications from the flu. Measles, pertussis, etc. are even more dangerous to people with fragile health, many of whom cannot have the vaccinations and are at the mercy of the herd. As has been said, multiple times, here.
uh oh. the slope is slipping already
Two points about the flu: not getting the vaccine does not automatically mean that you will get the flu. Most people don’t get the flu whether they get the vaccine or not. BUT the fact that you have not gotten the flu in past years is not a very good predictor of whether you will get it this year. You aren’t immune; you’ve just been lucky.
“It’s lovely that you haven’t gotten the flu in 20 years, if that’s what you are saying. But not everyone is that lucky, and some people have serious complications from the flu.”
That’s correct - I haven’t gotten the flu in around 20 years or more. And I completely understand that not everyone is that lucky, which is why I think it’s great that people have the option to get vaccinated. However, I would not want a situation where everyone is forced to get the flu vaccine.
I hope that people WOULD get vaccinated for things like measles, pertussis - I can’t help but be afraid of that slippery slope though that more and more conditions would require mandatory vaccinations. If it stayed at just measles and pertussis, I would have no problem with that.
^^^Absolutely. I understand there is every possibility that I CAN get the flu. But I am not at a high-risk category. I am unlikely to die from it (although nothing is a guarantee), so I would rather take precautions like washing my hands, healthy diet, etc. I would rather accept the risk of getting the flu than get the vaccine every year. And I believe that’s a valid choice that a person should be allowed to make.
By the way, overall, I think many vaccines are necessary. I would definitely vaccinate my child. But at the same time, I don’t find that true for all popular vaccines (flu being one, and there is at least one other one) - there is room for case-by-case basis, which is why I am so hesitant to support blanket, mandatory vaccinations…
Here’s a column by a North Carolina pediatrician who is a past president of the American Academy of Pediatrics. In 37 years of pediatric practice he has never seen a child with a permanent injury from a vaccine, whereas he’s seen children die from vaccine-preventable diseases. His practice does not care for children whose parents will not allow vaccines for whooping cough and bacterial meningitis. The reasons include, of course, the need to protect other children who have not been fully immunized. They also include a concern about possible malpractice claims by vaccine refusing parents.
http://www.newsobserver.com/2015/02/02/4525603_when-vaccines-are-refused-what.html?rh=1
I don’t want to offend you, acollegestudent, but it’s actually people like you who make it clear that mandatory vaccinations are necessary for serious illnesses. Except for people with known sensitivities, it’s not a rational decision to decline to get a flu shot. The benefits to the individual outweigh the risks, and when you add in the potential benefits to other people you might infect if you do get the flu, the benefits far outweigh the risks. And yet, many people don’t get the flu shot. For many, their explanation for not getting the shot is as simple as the fact that they’ve never had the flu. But that’s not really a rational reason.