Bob CollinsWhen it comes to getting its kids vaccinated, Minnesota isn’t above average.
The Wall St. Journal today has assembled state-by-state data for the percentage of 19-to-35 month olds who have had their MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) shots, and for a state that regularly finishes near the top of these types of surveys, Minnesota is a surprising 31st with 90.8%, well behind border states Iowa (11th), Wisconsin (16th), North Dakotas (25th) and South Dakota (17th), according to the 2003 statistics.
Minnesota rate has dropped about 1.5 percent from the 2006 measurements, when Minnesota ranked 24th. In fact, nearly half of the states have worse vaccination rates in 2013 than in 2006.
Sixteen other states has a sharper drop-off during that time than Minnesota.
The Wall St. Journal says…
When you look closer at the data, decline in vaccinations doesn’t seem to be about a lack of programs for the poor. Nationally the vaccination rates among 19- to 35-month-olds declined among those with income at or above the poverty level – from 93.1% in 2006 to 92.5% in 2013.
And it has fallen more dramatically in some states during that time among those at the poverty level or above. Among those people in Colorado, the vaccination rate fell to 84.5% from of 88.4%. Connecticut went to 91.8% from 95.9%. Kentucky went to 84.8% from 93.2% .
The drop in vaccinations coincides with the rise of the anti-vaccination movement, the proponents of which argue that vaccines could have unintended consequences among children – including worries that they caused autism. Although any link between autism and vaccines has been discredited by medical research, the concerns about vaccinations continue among some parents.
