SALEM, Ore. (KOIN) — Hundreds of people are rallying outside the Oregon State Capitol against a bill that would impose mandatory vaccinations.
House Bill 3063 would eliminate non-medical exemptions, meaning any child not up to date on require immunizations would not be allowed to attend public or private school and daycare programs in Oregon.
Most of the anti-vaccination ralliers say their biggest concern is government overreach. They feel like parents should have the right to choose if and when to vaccinate their children.
“I feel like it’s important to just have a choice,” Amelia Oscinowo told KOIN 6 News.
“I am not anti-vaccine,” said grandmother Vicky Fivecote. “But I am anti the government saying to us you have to vaccinate your child and you have to do it in this particular way.”
Since the start of 2019, there have been 78 confirmed cases of measles in Oregon and Washington. Almost all of those infected were not vaccinated.
The outbreak has cost county health departments more than $1 million so far and has drawn national attention from health care professionals, lawmakers and the US Surgeon General Jerome Adams.
“We have a social contract that exists in our community,” Adams said when he visited Clark County on March 6. “We all have to look out for one another, and unfortunately some people can’t get vaccinated, and so it’s important that the ones that can – do, not just to protect themselves but to protect everyone else.”
Adams visited clinics working to control the outbreak and stressed what the CDC states: Vaccines are safe and effective, and side effects are rare.
There have been no new measles cases reported in our area in recent weeks. Officials said we’re about a week away from declaring the 2019 measles outbreak officially over.
House Bill 3063 is scheduled for a work session Wednesday morning in Salem. Washington lawmakers are considering similar exemption legislation.