Pa. Senate Eyes Low State Vaccination Rate

Remember that Pew study showing Pennsylvania has the second-lowest vaccination rate in all the 50 states? The news didn’t go over so well in the Pennsylvania Senate.

The chamber’s Committee on Public Health and Welfare this week gave approval to a resolution calling for a study on how to increase youth vaccinations in the state. “According to the Pennsylvania Immunization Coalition, approximately 23 percent of 2-year-olds in Pennsylvania are not up-to-date for the currently recommended vaccines,” Sen. Shirley Kitchen, a Philadelphia Democrat, said in a memo sponsoring the resolution. “The goal of this staff study is to improve public health by addressing issues that affect youth vaccination within our Commonwealth.

The resolution — and Pew report — come after a recent measles breakout, more than a decade een declared eliminated in the United State. Public debate settled on “anti-vaxxers,” parents who refuse to immunize their kids, often believing there’s a link between vaccines and autism. (An old study seeming to confirm that link has since been discredited.)

The resolution goes to the full Pa. Senate for consideration. If approved, the study would be due back to the chamber within a year.