After a few weeks back in the classroom, chances are good that many families have experienced the consequences of their children returning to such a germ-friendly environment. It should make most of them grateful for vaccines that cut down on serious diseases.
Students don't go to school worried about polio, tetanus, measles or chicken pox anymore. For many families, the COVID-19 vaccines has proven a blessing as well. But here in West Virginia, there is still more reason to worry than in most other states. WalletHub's report on "2023's States that Vaccinate the Most" puts the Mountain State at 42nd overall. That's a problem. We are a reprehensible 49th for children and teenagers' immunization rates, yet 27th for adult and elderly vaccination rates. These awful rankings come despite West Virginia requiring students going into grades K-12 to show proof of immunization against diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, polio, measles, mumps, rubella, varicella and hepatitis B; and students going into grades 7 through 12 to show proof of immunization against diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus and meningococcal disease. Those requirements are supposed to be waived only if a child has a medical exemption.
So what gives? In a state where politicians have bent over backward to convince us how much they value life, it would seem widespread use of one of the means we have to protect young people (and all of us, really) would be a top priority.