Florida refuses to bar unvaccinated students from school suffering a measles outbreak

MicroWave@lemmy.world to politics @lemmy.world – 334 points –
Florida refuses to bar unvaccinated students from school suffering a measles outbreak
apnews.com

Florida’s controversial surgeon general is drawing criticism for his handling of an elementary school’s measles outbreak, telling parents of unvaccinated children it is their choice whether their students attend class — a contravention of federal guidelines calling for their mandatory exclusion.

Dr. Joseph Ladapo, nationally known for his outspoken skepticism toward the COVID-19 vaccine, sent a letter this week to parents at Manatee Bay Elementary School near Fort Lauderdale after six students contracted the highly contagious and potentially deadly virus. Such outbreaks are rare in the United States, though reported cases have spiked from 58 for all of 2023 to 35 already this year.

The letter notes that when a school has a measles outbreak, it is “normally recommended” that unvaccinated students who haven’t previously had the disease be kept home for three weeks “because of the high likelihood” they will be infected.

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  • kids don't have a choice, the state has an obligation to protect them from harms even if their parents willfully put them at risk
  • Vaccines aren't 100% effective, a certain number of children will catch the disease even if vaccinated
  • Vaccines aren't available to everyone
  • Greater spread encourages more mutation, leading to more dangerous variants

Sounds familiar right.

Remember all those siblings and extended family members who died of smallpox when you were younger? No? That's because we drove smallpox to the edge of extinction through aggressive vaccination campaigns over decades. We almost managed to do the same with measles until these chucklefucks ruined it for cheap political points, and now 136,000 people died from it last year

We almost managed to do the same with measles until these chucklefucks ruined it for cheap political points, and now 136,000 people died from it last year

That was my initial thought, but didn’t think through the previous points you made. Thank you for the quality reply. I retract my statement and admit my ignorance.

Thankfully I don't live in Florida, but this is basically allowing parents to expose other people's children to diseases against another parent's knowledge or consent.

Parents' rights insomuch as they win political points.

And not just their children. Everyone in the households of those children, too.