Why is Michigan loosening its rules for parents wanting to exempt kids from vaccines?
During a measles outbreak this spring in Washtenaw County, Michigan, local health officials worked to contain cases by ramping up contact tracing and testing efforts. People could take a measles test outside the Washtenaw County Health Department offices in Ypsilanti. Kate Wells/
During a measles outbreak this spring in Washtenaw County, Michigan, local health officials worked to contain cases by ramping up contact tracing and testing efforts. People could take a measles test outside the Washtenaw County Health Department offices in Ypsilanti. Kate Wells/KFF Health News hide caption
State health officials are urged parents in several counties to vaccinate babies against measles ahead of schedule this spring as cases multiplied in Michigan. The outbreaks of the highly contagious virus — which can lead to brain swelling, deafness, and death — came as parents are opting school-age kids out of vaccinations at a record-high rate.
It's a situation state officials have spent more than a decade trying to avoid. For years, they've been trying to make it harder for parents to send their kids to school unvaccinated.
This story was produced in partnership with KFF Health News .
State health officials are urged parents in several counties to vaccinate babies against measles ahead of schedule this spring as cases multiplied in Michigan. The outbreaks of the highly contagious virus — which can lead to brain swelling, deafness, and death — came as parents are opting school-age kids out of vaccinations at a record-high rate.
It's a situation state officials have spent more than a decade trying to avoid. For years, they've been trying to make it harder for parents to send their kids to school unvaccinated.
But those efforts have backfired in places like St. Clair County, in Michigan's conservative Thumb region. Dr. Remington Nevin, the county's medical director, has proudly declared "a new era of vaccine choice." Local parents there can now bypass the usual protocols and get school vaccine waivers via email, days after they fill out a brief digital form.
In fact, Michigan's health agency has been helping more than 30 counties move away from a state policy once credited with sharply reducing the number of parents who opted their kids out of shots.
