I should probably just avoid this whole subject, but, I'm a sucker. For the record, I'm fully vaccinated since birth and so are my children.
For obvious reasons this is becoming more political, but, until very recently it was usually hippies, or people who lived a "natural" life who objected to vaccines. We all went to school with people who were not immunized, we just didn't know it for the most part. Outbreaks were usually kept relatively small because vaccination rates were generally above 90 or 95%. Because we all went to school with those people, we all work with people who have no vaccinations now. It's just now they're making it another culture war cudgel.
Anyway, most states(looks like 44) still have religious exemption laws on the books about this and 15 with philosophical belief exemptions. That's less than there were before as some states have been repealing them in recent years. I remember, for example, California was one of the states that had a few breakouts due to a lot of personal exemptions 10 years ago and ended up repealing that part of their law in 2016.
The problem really is that they're being overused now, to the point that vaccinations for incoming kids in many school districts(including the one we live in now) are falling below 90%. I made the decision to pull my kids out said school district and I imagine a lot of people are going to have to make that decision in the future as vaccination rates continue to decline.
As a people, our willingness to entertain and to tolerate dangerous nonsense has been used against us.
It seemed like a small thing earlier, just some contrarian kookiness: Hippies in backwaters maybe, inverting the story, talking vaccines as the danger.
Same as they worried about mercury in dental fillings! I knew someone who had theirs yanked, who preferred cavities. Really!
But now?
After all the death?
I feel we should see foolishness as an "attack surface".
It is important to add:
I am also like this anecdotal hippie.
I am no different and no better.
I have also been the person steered by dangerous nonsense, the one targeted successfully by information warfare and reflexive control.
Compassion!
@BE @StillIRise1963
What religions would an exemption be applicable? I thought religions stress the importance and sanctity of life, which require to take all necessary actions to prevent the spread of disease and death.
In other words, a "religious exemption" for vaccines suggests the person requesting the exemption is not actually religious at all...