IDAHO, USA — More and more parents are choosing not to vaccinate their kids, especially here in Idaho. That's according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC report released Nov. 10 found that Idaho leads the country with a 12.1% exemption rate. The closest state to Idaho is Oregon, with 8.2% and Utah, with 8.1%.
Idaho is one of only 10 states in the United States with an exemption rate higher than 5%.
Now, that number is important because the CDC said if the exemption rate is higher than 5%, it could increase the risk of outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases, like polio and measles.
"Just this year, measles came back to the state of Idaho from an individual who went to another country where there was an outbreak,” said Dr. Micheal Wheaton, a pediatrician at Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center. “He was not vaccinated, he came back, and we had 10 cases of measles."
If the exemption rate continues to go up, Dr. Wheaton said it could put a strain on our healthcare system.
"We saw it with the pandemic as we were trying to figure out the burden of COVID on our population,” Dr. Wheaton said. “The same thing will eventually occur if less and less people vaccinate against diseases such as measles."
According to the CDC report, before the pandemic, the exemption rates stayed within the recommended 5%, but during and after the pandemic those numbers started to go up.
The report didn't go into detail on reasons for the increase, but Dr. Wheaton said the report reflects the growing concern about medicine in general.
"I do think the pandemic really brought out some things that we didn't anticipate,” Dr. Wheaton said. “I think we had information overload to the public and I think there was a greater spread of misinformation."
Dr. Wheaton said physicians and the state are doing everything they can to improve the vaccination rates.
“The state of Idaho is very unique because of our immunization rates, we've opened that program up to all children so there really are no vaccine costs," Dr. Wheaton said.
Dr. Wheaton said even though the state is making efforts to get kids vaccinated, one issue is how easy it is to get an exemption in the state of Idaho.
It's not only for medical or religious beliefs but also for philosophical reasons. Dr. Wheaton said, in other words, a parent can request an exemption simply by choice if they fill out the appropriate forms and turn them into the school or childcare.
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