You knew it was only a matter of time. Enjoy your polio, measles, tuberculosis, smallpox whooping cough and mumps morans!:
Just 34% of Iowa adults now say all children should be required to receive standard shots unless they have a doctor-signed statement showing they have a medical reason not to be vaccinated, the poll shows. That’s down from 59% who supported such a requirement in 2015, when
the Iowa Poll asked a similar question about childhood vaccinations.
The shifting opinions come amid controversy over COVID-19 vaccines, which are not included in the list of shots Iowa children are supposed to receive before attending school. The list of state-mandated shots includes those against measles, polio, mumps and whooping cough, which have been required for decades.
The new poll specifically asked how Iowans feel about the state law requiring children to be vaccinated against diseases other than COVID-19.
The new poll finds that 28% say the state should have no law on childhood vaccinations. Another 21% of Iowa adults favor allowing limited exemptions to childhood vaccine mandates for medical or religious reasons, while 14% back allowing broad exemptions, for personal reasons as well as medical or religious reasons. Three percent are unsure.
The 28% of adults who think Iowa should have no law on childhood vaccinations is up 12 percentage points from seven years ago, when 16% believed that.
The new Iowa Poll, conducted by Selzer & Co., is based on a sample of 813 Iowa adults. It was conducted from Feb. 28 to March 2 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points.
Iowa’s current
childhood vaccination law allows exemptions for medical or religious reasons.
Public health experts say although some children have legitimate medical reasons not to receive specific vaccines, no major religion teaches that vaccinations are wrong.
A plurality of Iowa parents with children under 18 say there should be no law requiring children to receive vaccinations
Just 17% of Iowa Republicans favor requiring all children to be vaccinated against diseases other than COVID-19 unless they have a doctor-signed statement saying they have a medical reason not to receive the shots. But 56% of Iowa Democrats favor such a strict requirement, as do 34% of political independents.
On the other hand, 46% of Iowa Republicans say the state should have no law on childhood vaccinations, compared to just 5% of Democrats and 27% of political independents.
Amid COVID vaccine controversy, Iowans' support for standard vaccine requirements in schools drops, even with religious, medical exemptions allowed.
www.press-citizen.com