A game-ending interception at the 1-yard line in the Super Bowl is like a dagger to the gut, an ice pick to the skull. You get the idea. It’s been a rough week.
Let’s talk about something less painful: needles. Specifically the ones used to inject vaccines into our kids.
In light of the recent measles outbreaks, we asked at HeraldNet.com about whether the law should require parents to have children vaccinated. In our unscientific poll, about 71 percent said yes and 29 percent said no.
Unscientific also describes a lot of information out there about the safety of vaccines. When you’re a parent, it’s enough to give you pause. When you see your No. 1 job in life as NOT harming your kids, even 99.9 percent sure isn’t sure enough.
Besides, with most parents having their kids vaccinated, that lessens the chance of a disease spreading, so one kid skipping it is no big deal, right?
The problem, of course, is that if enough kids aren’t vaccinated, that “herd immunity” goes away and we end up with our Facebook feeds full of pictures of people with diseases that seemingly had been eradicated.
Washington used to be last in the nation in vaccination rates, but a 2011 state law at least makes it inconvenient to opt out. By last year, rates were up to around 90 percent here for the most common shots, according to the CDC. A bill in the Legislature would make it even tougher to avoid vaccinations.
I don’t know how strict the law needs to be, but unless you have a good medical reason not to vaccinate, I think in general the rest of us would like you to go along.
The shots might make them cry, but that’ll toughen them up for adulthood. Then football can make them cry.
— Doug Parry: dparry@heraldnet.com Our next poll asks about forced sterilization, which many people have suggested in response to the recent story about a Lake Stevens couple who allegedly abandoned their children:
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