The CDC was once the respected and elite science institution. It is now overseen by an attorney. We look like a country that has lost our footing. The U.S. is about to lose its status as a country where measles was eradicated. Even if you believe in science and the value of immunizing, your children may be in school with children never immunized. Diseases once eradicated are now coming back and finding their way into our public schools.
In 2025, the year RFK Jr. was put in charge of the CDC, the U.S. had 2,144 cases of measles. We are losing our status of measles eradication. The vaccine has proven to be extremely safe and effective through years of scientific study and with minimal side effects. Experiencing measles can be quite awful — with a rash and high fevers. Many are hospitalized. It can be expensive to treat. It can be deadly. It is one of the most communicable diseases. An infected child with no symptoms can spread the droplet through breathing the shared air in the classroom to the entire class. The infected droplets can live in the air in the vacated room for several hours.
In the wisdom of our legislators, it is now very easy for families of school-aged children to opt out of vaccines for personal preference. No longer do they need to have an appointment with their health care provider to fully understand the immensity of the decision. That fateful decision can put other children who are immunocompromised at additional risk as well as younger children not yet fully immunized and pregnant mothers or teachers.
Our state could and should institute the guidelines we are more comfortable with enforcing. In my mind we should err on the side of being more cautious and careful about the old protections that have kept us disease-free for all these years.
Patricia Sadoski, Logan
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