TO GET THEIR SHOTS. SOME NEWTON SCHOOLS MIGHT HAVE EMPTY CHAIRS COME THIS FALL. NOW THAT THE SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT SAYS SHE IS REINSTATING THE EXPECTATIONS FOR VACCINES. I’M FINE WITH IT. AND TO BE HONEST WITH YOU, I DIDN’T EVEN REALIZE IT WASN’T THERE. SO WE ALWAYS STUCK WITH OUR VACCINE VACCINATION PROGRAMS WITH THE DOCTOR AND NOTHING LAPSED ON OUR END. SUPERINTENDENT ANNA NOLAN SAYS. DURING THE PANDEMIC, SOME FAMILIES WERE GRANTED WAIVERS TO THE STATE’S VACCINE MANDATES IN A MEMO TO THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE, SHE WROTE A RECENT RECORDS REVIEW TURNED UP 182 CHILDREN WHOSE IMMUNIZATIONS ARE NOT UP TO DATE, INCLUDING 42 WHO WERE NOT FULLY VACCINATED AGAINST MEASLES. IF I HAD MY CHOICE, I WOULD NOT VACCINATE THEM AT ALL. WHY IS THAT? I THINK THE VACCINES ARE POISON. THE UNVACCINATED STUDENTS REPRESENT LESS THAN 2% OF NEWTON’S STUDENT POPULATION OF MORE THAN 11,000, BUT THEY COULD STILL POSE A RISK FOR AN OUTBREAK IF THEY’RE CLUSTERED TOGETHER, SAYS DOCTOR SHIRA DRONE FROM TUFTS. IF YOU HAVE MULTIPLE CHILDREN IN THE SAME GRADE, FOR EXAMPLE, AND AN INTRODUCTION OF MEASLES BECAUSE ONE OF THOSE STUDENTS TRAVELS TO AN AREA WITH MEASLES TRANSMISSION AND BRINGS IT BACK, YOU COULD GET AN OUTBREAK AND YOU COULD GET SERIOUS ILLNESS. TO MEET THE STATE REQUIREMENTS, FAMILIES CAN EITHER HAVE THEIR CHILDREN VACCINATED OR REQUEST AN EXEMPTION. CURRENTLY, MASSACHUSETTS ALLOWS FOR MEDICAL OR RELIGIOUS EXEMPTIONS TO SCHOOL VACCINE MANDATES, BUT A BILL BEFORE THE LEGISLATURE WOULD DO AWAY WITH THE RELIGIOUS EXEMPTION. SEVERAL STATES HAVE GOTTEN RID OF THEM IN RECENT YEARS, INCLUDING CALIFORNIA. LIKE I MENTIONED, CONNECTICUT, MAINE AND NEW YORK. ALL AROUND HERE. SO WE’RE HOPING TO TO BE THE NEXT ONE. NOW, ANY OF THE FAMILIES HERE IN NEWTON WHO GET ONE OF THOSE EXEMPTIONS COULD STILL FACE CONSEQUENCES. THE SUPERINTENDENT SAYS IF THEY COME INTO CONTACT WITH ANYONE WHO HAS MEASLES, THOSE WOULD BE SUBJECT TO A QUARANTINE AND BE BANNED FROM SCHOOL F
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More than 14 million children did not receive a single vaccine last year — about the same number as the year before — according to U.N. health officials. Nine countries accounted for more than half of those unprotected children.Related video above: Mass. district cracks down on unvaccinated students ahead of school yearIn their annual estimate of global vaccine coverage, released Tuesday, the World Health Organization and UNICEF said about 89% of children under 1 year old got a first dose of the diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough vaccine in 2024, the same as in 2023. About 85% completed the three-dose series, up from 84% in 2023.Officials acknowledged, however, that the collapse of international aid this year will make it more difficult to reduce the number of unprotected children. In January, U.S. President Trump withdrew the country from the WHO, froze nearly all humanitarian aid and later moved to close the U.S. AID Agency. And last month, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said it was pulling the billions of dollars the U.S. had previously pledged to the vaccines alliance Gavi, saying the group had “ignored the science.”Kennedy, a longtime vaccine skeptic, has previously raised questions the diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough vaccine — which has proven to be safe and effective after years of study and real-world use. Vaccines prevent 3.5 million to 5 million deaths a year, according to U.N. estimates.”Drastic cuts in aid, coupled with misinformation about the safety of vaccines, threaten to unwind decades of progress,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.U.N. experts said that access to vaccines remained “deeply unequal” and that conflict and humanitarian crises quickly unraveled progress; Sudan had the lowest reported coverage against diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough. The data showed that nine countries accounted for 52% of all children who missed out on immunizations entirely: Nigeria, India, Sudan, Congo, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Yemen, Afghanistan and Angola.WHO and UNICEF said coverage against measles rose slightly, with 76% of children worldwide receiving both vaccine doses. But experts say measles vaccine rates need to reach 95% to prevent outbreaks of the extremely contagious disease. WHO noted that 60 countries reported big measles outbreaks last year.The U.S. is now having its worst measles outbreak in more than three decades, while the disease has also surged across Europe, with 125,000 cases in 2024 — twice as many as the previous year, according to WHO.Last week, British authorities reported a child died of measles in a Liverpool hospital. Health officials said that despite years of efforts to raise awareness, only about 84% of children in the U.K. are protected.”It is hugely concerning, but not at all surprising, that we are continuing to see outbreaks of measles,” said Helen Bradford, a professor of children’s health at University College London. “The only way to stop measles spreading is with vaccination,” she said in a statement. “It is never too late to be vaccinated — even as an adult.”
More than 14 million children did not receive a single vaccine last year — about the same number as the year before — according to U.N. health officials. Nine countries accounted for more than half of those unprotected children.
Related video above: Mass. district cracks down on unvaccinated students ahead of school year
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In their annual estimate of global vaccine coverage, released Tuesday, the World Health Organization and UNICEF said about 89% of children under 1 year old got a first dose of the diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough vaccine in 2024, the same as in 2023. About 85% completed the three-dose series, up from 84% in 2023.
Officials acknowledged, however, that the collapse of international aid this year will make it more difficult to reduce the number of unprotected children. In January, U.S. President Trump withdrew the country from the WHO, froze nearly all humanitarian aid and later moved to close the U.S. AID Agency. And last month, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said it was pulling the billions of dollars the U.S. had previously pledged to the vaccines alliance Gavi, saying the group had “ignored the science.”
Kennedy, a longtime vaccine skeptic, has previously raised questions the diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough vaccine — which has proven to be safe and effective after years of study and real-world use. Vaccines prevent 3.5 million to 5 million deaths a year, according to U.N. estimates.
“Drastic cuts in aid, coupled with misinformation about the safety of vaccines, threaten to unwind decades of progress,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
U.N. experts said that access to vaccines remained “deeply unequal” and that conflict and humanitarian crises quickly unraveled progress; Sudan had the lowest reported coverage against diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough. The data showed that nine countries accounted for 52% of all children who missed out on immunizations entirely: Nigeria, India, Sudan, Congo, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Yemen, Afghanistan and Angola.
WHO and UNICEF said coverage against measles rose slightly, with 76% of children worldwide receiving both vaccine doses. But experts say measles vaccine rates need to reach 95% to prevent outbreaks of the extremely contagious disease. WHO noted that 60 countries reported big measles outbreaks last year.
The U.S. is now having its worst measles outbreak in more than three decades, while the disease has also surged across Europe, with 125,000 cases in 2024 — twice as many as the previous year, according to WHO.
Last week, British authorities reported a child died of measles in a Liverpool hospital. Health officials said that despite years of efforts to raise awareness, only about 84% of children in the U.K. are protected.
“It is hugely concerning, but not at all surprising, that we are continuing to see outbreaks of measles,” said Helen Bradford, a professor of children’s health at University College London. “The only way to stop measles spreading is with vaccination,” she said in a statement. “It is never too late to be vaccinated — even as an adult.”
