Thank you so much for taking a realistic stand on vaccines for our children (In Our View, “With vaccines available, it’s dangerous in Fantasyland.”)
It seems ironic that on the same day this editorial was published, it was announced that the Snohomish Health District’s Everett office had a water pipe burst, which has forced the relocation of their immunization clinic to its Lynnwood office. We can’t always prevent a water pipe from breaking, but the Snohomish County Board of Health has chosen to actually close this immunization clinic for good this coming summer. The reasoning is that there are “lots of other providers who can do these services.” What about medically disenfranchised, homeless and undocumented people? What about those refugees or immigrants that don’t qualify for the Affordable Care Act? We as a community are not investing in our local public health system so that disease prevention programs are protected from budget cuts, and it will begin to show one way or another.
The editorial also mentioned that the U.S. has promised $1 billion over the next four years to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. This is the global approach to immunizations. I am proud to be an American when our government chooses to invest in the lives of children, no matter where they live. The Herald is spot on in saying, “ The disconnect between this global effort to eliminate preventable disease and parents in developed countries who refuse or are reluctant to vaccinate their children is mind-boggling and dangerous.”
Teresa Rugg
Snohomish
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