An issue that has been on my mind as a citizen here in Washington is the debate on vaccinations. Whether or not to get a vaccination is the question that’s going on in many people’s minds. (Washington state’s House Bill 2009 “Concerning exemptions from immunizations for school-age children” remains in committee).
I have grown up always getting vaccinations ever since I was a baby because I had no choice and that’s how I was raised. My interpretation of vaccinations has changed in the past couple of months with all the debates, articles posted on Facebook and newspaper articles on the subject.
Steiner Hayward, a Beaverton, Ore., physician who practices family medicine, wrote an article about the vaccination controversy and how he wants to end Oregon’s philosophical exemption for child vaccinations.
A widely popular topic that keeps coming up is the renewed measles outbreak. According to Hayward, 7.1 percent of kindergartners in Oregon haven’t been immunized — that is the highest in the country. That might not seem like a lot of people but the spreading rate of all disease is going to end up increasing really rapidly. The people who are not getting vaccinated are not thinking about the risk they are putting on themselves and others.
