'States are failing on vaccinations. The federal government must lead.' via postopinions
By Scott C. Ratzan , Barry R. Bloom , Lawrence O. Gostin and Jonathan Fielding March 7 at 7:42 PM Scott C. Ratzan is a senior fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government. Barry R. Bloom is a professor of public health and former dean at the Harvard School of Public Health. Lawrence O.
The rise in such cases is not due to more virulent strains or resistant viruses. Rather, society suffers from the success of anti-vaccine advocates who pushed “vaccine hesitancy and refusal” and issued unrelenting demonization, disinformation and demagoguery against immunizations. Social media is infected with viral messaging from bots and trolls that masquerade as legitimate information outlets but instead stoke illegitimate fear of vaccines.
The constitutional power to compel vaccination is beyond doubt. As early as 1905, the Supreme Court upheld a law in Massachusetts requiring the smallpox vaccination. The ruling, Jacobson v. Massachusetts, affirmed the constitutionality of state and local laws across the country requiring childhood vaccination as a condition of school entry. By 1922, the court found that school vaccination laws were squarely “within the police power of a state.
But most states have failed to respond in a similar way, and it would be irresponsible to wait as outbreaks expanded with severe consequences for our children.First, the federal government should immediately initiate a comprehensive communication “Safe Vaccinations for a Healthy America” campaign. Such an effort would improve our nation’s public health by delivering information about vaccine benefits and risks in plain language from sources we trust .
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