From: stephen@sprunk.org

On 27-Apr-15 11:26, Adam H. Kerman wrote:
> Stephen Sprunk  wrote:
>> On 27-Apr-15 08:36, Adam H. Kerman wrote:
>>> And our society isn't even enforcing mandatory vaccination laws
>>> with respect to the most basic vaccinations.
>>
>> The laws allow exceptions, on the assumption not enough people
>> would take advantage of them to affect herd immunity.  Thanks
>> largely to hysteria caused by Jenny McCarthy, that assumption was
>> wrong.  But the law _is_ being enforced as written, even if not as
>> intended.
>
> Wrong.
>
> After the Disneyland epidemic, there have been numerous newspaper
> stories pointing out schools that are simply failing to follow up
> with families that failed to immunize their children or take extreme
> measures to keep unimmunized children at home. In a mere handful of
> cases, parents expressed objections that might be allowable
> exceptions, but that sure as hell wasn't true in most cases.

The problem was traced to a handful of schools, where a large fraction
of parents had deliberately not immunized their kids.  There is no
evidence of a widespread enforcement problem.

My point is that the law _allows_ parents to not immunize their kids, so
you can't blame lack of immunization on enforcement anyway; there is
nothing to enforce.  Whether those certain schools gave up on asking
because so many parents were refusing or the schools tried but the
parents claimed the exemption, the result is the same: the kids of
stupid parents got sick from a preventable disease, costing the public
millions of dollars.

The only solution is to remove the exceptions--and to provide the
immunizations for free, as a matter of public policy, to those who
cannot afford them.

>>> Obamacare is largely about a mechanism to get hospital bills
>>> paid, not about preventing the spread of infection and would be a
>>> lousy way to achieve that.
>>
>> Well, if someone didn't get their kid vaccinated because they
>> couldn't afford it, then universal coverage (the main goal of
>> Obamacare) is a good solution.  One can't show up at the ER and get
>> free vaccinations, like one can for an actual case of measles.
>
> That's a false statement as we've long had mass immunization
> programs going back decades. I recall TB tests at school and
> receiving booster immunization shots at school.
>
> There are charities that serve poor neighborhoods and, from time to
> time, several of the national and regional drug store chains have
> sponsored immunizations. Every July and August, churches and
> charities organize mass immunization days in time to get children
> registered for school, as it's a prerequisite (where enforced).

Here, you can't enroll a kid in school without their immunization
papers--or signing the waiver.  Yes, some churches or charities may
occasionally offer them for free, but one can't rely on that as a matter
of public policy, and the very need for free clinics was a damning
indictment of our entire health care system.

Also, since Obamacare went into effect, many free clinics have shut
their doors because most of their patients are insured now, so there is
no longer enough demand to justify them.  That's a major win.

>> But that's not the actual problem in this case; these parents _did_
>> have access to vaccines and chose not to get them anyway.
>
> Yes, Stephen, as I just said in the precursor article. It was in the
> bit you cut out. Nice selective quoting job there.

... and then you digressed into matters which weren't relevant, which is
what I was pointing out.

S

--
Stephen Sprunk         "God does not play dice."  --Albert Einstein
CCIE #3723         "God is an inveterate gambler, and He throws the
K5SSS        dice at every possible opportunity." --Stephen Hawking

--- SoupGate/W32 v1.03
 * Origin: LiveWire BBS -=*=- UseNet FTN Gateway (1:2320/1)