Spokane public schools lower rate of unvaccinated students

Growing up, vaccines were a normal part of my life. As a kid, I knew I didn’t enjoy getting shots, but I knew they were helpful to everyone around me.

The term “herd immunity” creates a decreased likelihood of the spread of contagious diseases within a population if enough people are immune to the disease, which is mostly reached through vaccination. Meaning that those who cannot be vaccinated, such as those with autoimmune disorders and those who are too young to get them are protected from diseases that are preventable.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, all 50 states have legislation requiring specific vaccines for students, with exemptions varying from state to state. All states have exemptions for medical reasons. 45 states and Washington D.C. grant religious exemptions while 15 states allow for philosophical or personal exemptions.

States should not allow personal exemptions from vaccines because it decreases herd immunity and creates a greater likelihood for those who can’t get vaccines to get vaccine preventable diseases. There are plenty of diseases that have been eradicated by vaccines and allowing people to not get them for reasons that aren’t medical or religious is wrong.

One state that has taken steps in the right direction is Washington. In May of 2019, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee signed into law that the state’s public schools will not allow the acceptance of personal or philosophical exemptions from vaccines in public schools, while medical and religious exemptions are still around.

Last week it was announced that the number of students who claimed personal exemptions from vaccines reached zero in Spokane public schools.

In an article from Krem2News by Shayna Waltower, at the beginning of this school year in Spokane public schools there were 911 unvaccinated students who previously claimed personal exemptions from vaccines. That number quickly dropped to 35 after the school implemented
a policy that did not allow students who were unvaccinated without religious or medical exemptions to go to school.

Even though the students weren’t allowed to go to school, they were given the opportunity to complete classwork at home. According to the article, there are around 600 students who claim medical or religious exemptions.

Public schools require vaccinations because it builds up herd immunity within that school. The law that doesn’t allow personal exemptions from vaccines allowed Spokane public schools to continue to maintain that herd immunity.

Not allowing unvaccinated kids who had personal vaccine exemptions was a great way to make sure these students have been vaccinated. It clearly demonstrated a fast solution to a growing problem in the United States, with the increased rate of vaccine preventable diseases.

The Spokane school district did everything right. They quickly took care of the problem and made sure those who missed school were able to get their work done. Other school districts need to follow what Spokane school district did in order to maintain herd immunity.

Now, because there are zero students who aren’t vaccinated for personal reasons, those who cannot get vaccines are less likely to get vaccine preventable diseases because they aren’t coming into contact with those diseases.

Nicole Hindberg can be reached at [email protected]