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I am writing to express my appreciation to Governor Justice for vetoing HB 5105 and maintaining robust childhood immunization policies and requirements in West Virginia. Immunizations are one of the greatest public health achievements of modern medicine, virtually eliminating deadly diseases like polio, measles, and whooping cough that previously killed or disabled millions around the world.
Unfortunately, neighboring states like Ohio continue to see outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases.
From October-December 2022, for example, a measles outbreak among unvaccinated children, resulted in 85 confirmed cases, with 36 (42%) of those cases requiring hospitalization. Nationwide Children's Hospital has estimated that the cost to treat the children who were hospitalized there with measles was at least $1.5 million. West Virginians should be thankful that Governor Justice recognized there's no good time to weaken our effective policies.
In fact, with the Governor's leadership, West Virginia's strong school immunization requirements have led the nation and have subsequently been used as a model by other states to strengthen their school immunization requirements after those states experienced measles outbreaks like the one in Ohio.
Measles, like many other vaccine preventable diseases, is an expensive communicable disease to try to contain, and the costs extend far beyond public health and health care, with disruptions to schools, missed school time by students who are sick or exposed and must quarantine, and missed work by parents/guardians who care for their children that are home from school as a result.
Childhood immunizations are a crucial line of defense that protects not just individual children but establishes community immunity that guards entire populations, including those too young or too ill to be vaccinated themselves.
Eroding childhood immunization requirements undermines this vital public health safeguard and opens the door for outbreaks of preventable diseases to take hold.
For the health of all children and our community at large, thank you, Gov. Justice for your united stand with the medical community in support of maintaining West Virginia's strong childhood immunization policies.
Sincerely,
Mary Edwards, DO
Chief Medical Officer
Mon Health System