Missoula County opposes HB 575, Revise laws related to immunizations in daycare facilities, up for hearing Monday morning in House Judiciary. This bill would eliminate immunization requirements in child care, increasing the risk for all children in child care, but especially for babies not yet old enough to be vaccinated and children with medical conditions barring them from certain immunizations. If parents cannot find child care that minimizes the risk to their child, they may choose not to return to the work force, opting to stay home with their children. This could potentially burden the state and may increase the number of families qualifying for public assistance like SNAP, Medicaid and TANF. Montana law already provides for medical exemptions and some religious exemptions, so those who truly can’t be vaccinated are not forced to do so and rely on herd immunity for protection. This legislation will decrease herd immunity, and costly vaccine-preventable illnesses will become more common. Given recent outbreaks of mumps, pertussis and tetanus cases in Montana and the very contagious outbreaks of measles in nearby states, it’s only a matter of time before we see a large community outbreak that will impact child cares and schools. Unvaccinated children and workers will be excluded from work or school, and families will be affected financially by lost work time and/or medical bills. This will also result in expensive outbreak investigations, which could have been prevented by one of the most cost-effective tools we have: vaccines.
Missoula County opposes HB 575, Revise laws related to immunizations in daycare facilities, on the House floor tomorrow morning. This bill would eliminate immunization requirements in child care, increasing the risk for all children in child care, but especially for babies not yet old enough to be vaccinated and children with medical conditions barring them from certain immunizations. If parents cannot find child care that minimizes the risk to their child, they may choose not to return to the work force, opting to stay home with their children. This could potentially burden the state and may increase the number of families qualifying for public assistance like SNAP, Medicaid and TANF. Montana law already provides for medical exemptions and some religious exemptions, so those who truly can’t be vaccinated are not forced to do so and rely on herd immunity for protection. This legislation will decrease herd immunity, and costly vaccine-preventable illnesses will become more common. Given recent outbreaks of mumps, pertussis and tetanus cases in Montana and the very contagious outbreaks of measles in nearby states, it’s only a matter of time before we see a large community outbreak that will impact child cares and schools. Unvaccinated children and workers will be excluded from work or school, and families will be affected financially by lost work time and/or medical bills. This will also result in expensive outbreak investigations, which could have been prevented by one of the most cost-effective tools we have: vaccines.
Sent Feb. 22:
ReplyDeleteRepresentatives Keogh and Morigeau,
Missoula County opposes HB 575, Revise laws related to immunizations in daycare facilities, up for hearing Monday morning in House Judiciary. This bill would eliminate immunization requirements in child care, increasing the risk for all children in child care, but especially for babies not yet old enough to be vaccinated and children with medical conditions barring them from certain immunizations. If parents cannot find child care that minimizes the risk to their child, they may choose not to return to the work force, opting to stay home with their children. This could potentially burden the state and may increase the number of families qualifying for public assistance like SNAP, Medicaid and TANF. Montana law already provides for medical exemptions and some religious exemptions, so those who truly can’t be vaccinated are not forced to do so and rely on herd immunity for protection. This legislation will decrease herd immunity, and costly vaccine-preventable illnesses will become more common. Given recent outbreaks of mumps, pertussis and tetanus cases in Montana and the very contagious outbreaks of measles in nearby states, it’s only a matter of time before we see a large community outbreak that will impact child cares and schools. Unvaccinated children and workers will be excluded from work or school, and families will be affected financially by lost work time and/or medical bills. This will also result in expensive outbreak investigations, which could have been prevented by one of the most cost-effective tools we have: vaccines.
Please oppose HB 575.
Sent 2/27:
ReplyDeleteRepresentatives,
Missoula County opposes HB 575, Revise laws related to immunizations in daycare facilities, on the House floor tomorrow morning. This bill would eliminate immunization requirements in child care, increasing the risk for all children in child care, but especially for babies not yet old enough to be vaccinated and children with medical conditions barring them from certain immunizations. If parents cannot find child care that minimizes the risk to their child, they may choose not to return to the work force, opting to stay home with their children. This could potentially burden the state and may increase the number of families qualifying for public assistance like SNAP, Medicaid and TANF. Montana law already provides for medical exemptions and some religious exemptions, so those who truly can’t be vaccinated are not forced to do so and rely on herd immunity for protection. This legislation will decrease herd immunity, and costly vaccine-preventable illnesses will become more common. Given recent outbreaks of mumps, pertussis and tetanus cases in Montana and the very contagious outbreaks of measles in nearby states, it’s only a matter of time before we see a large community outbreak that will impact child cares and schools. Unvaccinated children and workers will be excluded from work or school, and families will be affected financially by lost work time and/or medical bills. This will also result in expensive outbreak investigations, which could have been prevented by one of the most cost-effective tools we have: vaccines.
Please oppose HB 575.