SAN DIEGO (NEWS 8) - People choosing not to vaccinate are now a "global health threat," according to the World Health Organization, (WHO).
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said vaccines will prevent 322 million illnesses over the next 20 years, yet the WHO lists vaccine hesitancy among the top ten health threats for 2019.
"Vaccine hesitancy – the reluctance or refusal to vaccinate despite the availability of vaccines – threatens to reverse progress made in tackling vaccine-preventable diseases," the WHO website states.
California tried to crack down on anti-vaxxers a few years ago by eliminating the personal belief exemption as a reason why kids did not get their shots before starting school.
The National Vaccine Information Center said in its opposition to the law, “unvaccinated school aged children with religious and conscientious belief exemptions are not causing measles and whopping cough outbreaks in California. Vaccines are pharmaceutical products that carry a risk of injury or death, which can be greater for some than others.”
Even before the law was passed, San Diego always had a higher than average percentage of kindergarteners who were not vaccinated.
County Health said the numbers are still higher than the rest of the state. “What we are seeing in San Diego and California is that some are using alternatives to get around that requirement for vaccination. We want everyone to make an informed decision, but vaccines are tool proven to get better over time and a way to prevent disease,” Dr. Sayone Thihalolipavan, Department of Public Health officer.
The Anti-vaccine movement can be traced back to 1998 when Andrew Wakefield published a fraudulent research paper claiming there was a link between vaccines and autism. He was then stripped of his medical license for unethical behavior and his article has been debunked several times.
Doctors point the return of measles as evidence of the problem. It was considered eradicated in the U.S. back in 2000.
To learn about the immunization rate for your child's school, click here.