I figured that one of the consequences of our political polarization over COVID vaccines would be that increasing numbers of parents would start resisting medical and educational insistence on vaccinating children, one of the triumphs of modern public health. Kids mostly don't have to suffer from nasty childhood diseases these days. A very significant fraction of the increase in life expectancy over the last century came from more individuals living to age five because of escaping childhood plagues.
But apparently the COVID wars have, if anything, slightly increased vaccine coverage among very young children. Maybe all the noise has increased parental awareness - and possibly even broadened access?
California has decided not to fight the fight over the COVID vaccine in the public schools. The Los Angeles Times explains there are good reasons for educational institutions to opt out of this culture war:
Unlike the other vaccines required for school enrollment in California, the COVID vaccines are unreliable at preventing infection or transmission, providing at best modest protection against infection for only a couple of months.
In contrast, the vaccines already required for school attendance, such as those for measles, mumps, rubella and polio, reliably prevent outbreaks when local vaccination rates reach a certain threshold. The hepatitis B and varicella (chickenpox) vaccines afford protection against infection for years, diminishing long-term transmission risks. The tetanus vaccine provides only individual protection, but it is administered in combination with vaccines for diphtheria and pertussis, which protect against outbreaks over the long term.
We never had any evidence that the COVID vaccines would work like vaccines that provide a high degree of lasting protection against infection and transmission, conferring so-called herd immunity.So I guess this polarizing cartoon was not as clever as it seemed in 2021. We live; we learn.
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