Complacency needs to be eradicated! Like anyone who believes in science, many years of evidence and just plain truth, I wholeheartedly agree with the Editorial Board’s recent editorial on the worrying declines in immunization rates. Rates are dropping: 3% fewer of Utah’s kindergartners are fully vaccinated, compared to pre-pandemic times, and exemptions increased by 2.9%.
Is it a question of convenience? Are we making the exemptions easier than providing a lifesaving vaccination? Shouldn’t we be looking for solutions, solving concerns and strengthening understanding?
Declining a vaccine is a luxury that many in the developing world do not have. More than one-quarter of children around the world have not been fully vaccinated against measles. 14.5 million have not received a single vaccine of any kind. In these cases, the issue is not vaccine acceptance — it’s access.
While we do have challenges as a nation and as a world, access to affordable, life-saving and disease-preventing vaccines shouldn’t be one of them. I call upon Senators Romney and Lee, Senator-Elect Curtis, and Representatives Owens, Maloy and Moore to do all they can to protect while still in office to support local, national and global vaccinations. Down with complacency, up with understanding and action!
Lori Harding
South Jordan