Colorado has the lowest vaccination rate for kindergarten children for any state in the US. According to CDC, Colorado was very last in the 2017-2018 school year when it came to vaccinating students in kindergarten. Roughly 12 percent of kindergarteners in Colorado were not vaccinated for measles, mumps and rubella: all diseases that are easily treatable.
This is not only dangerous to young children who have not been vaccinated, but it also endangers others around them who cannot get immunizations because of medical conditions. “Herd immunity” is when the vast majority of a community is immune, thanks to vaccination, to a disease. Those who cannot get vaccinated, like infants and those with specific illnesses, are rendered safe because the disease cannot move its way through the population, and therefore cannot get to them. In order to achieve herd immunity, roughly 95 percent of the community needs to be vaccinated. The data from the CDC shows that young Coloradan children are therefore in danger with an 88.7 percent vaccination rate. Though older children and adults still contribute to group immunity, the data is alarming and demonstrates that Colorado is vulnerable to an outbreak.
Colorado legislators are aware of this danger and have introduced legislation to combat it. Democrat Kyle Mullica, a trauma nurse and legislator from District 34, has partnered with Democrat Julie Gonzalez from District 34 and Republican Kevin Priola from District 25. They have introduced HB19-1312 School Immunization Requirements which would mandate that parents need to opt their children out of immunization, and would standardize that opt-out process. Otherwise, vaccines would be safely administered by a licensed physician. Exemptions could be personal or religious but would have to be verified and allowed by the state.
Though this bill does not aim to completely get rid of the exemption process like other states have, it would make communities safer. An interview conducted by a CPR revealed that this bill would make disease outbreaks less likely. Dr. Sean O’Leary, an infectious disease specialist and pediatrician, said, “Research shows the easier the process for opting out, the higher the exemption rate” and “The higher the exemption rate, the higher the risk for vaccine-preventable disease outbreaks.” If HB19-1312 were to pass, more children would be vaccinated, and the chance for outbreaks would go down.
HB19-1312 was introduced on Apr. 4 and went to House Health and Insurance on Apr. 15.
