For herd immunity, in which a population has a high percentage of people immune or vaccinated to protect against the spread of a disease, to protect against polio and diptheria, no more than 15% of a population can forgo vaccination. For measles, no more than 8% can.
But, in the past 20 years, Gallup found the amount of people who view vaccination as very important has plummeted from 94% to 84%, meaning that not only has the rate of nonvaccination surged past the protection threshold of herd immunity but also that the problem is slated to compound and explode.
More than 9 in 10 senior citizens still believe in the importance of vaccinations, but just 85% of 50-65-year-olds do, and only 4 in 5 30-49-year-olds do. Even more disturbingly, the problem is astoundingly worse with parents of the children most vulnerable to vaccine-preventable illnesses. Whereas 87% of people without children under 18 believe in the importance of vaccinating, just 77% of those with children do.
The problem isn’t terribly gendered, with women maintaining a three-point lead over men in their adherence to vaccination. But the problem is educational and alarmingly political.
Nine in 10 people who at least graduated college view vaccination as very important, but only 84% of high school graduates do. Strangely enough, that figure is even lower for those who attended but did not graduate college.
Democrats hold the average belief of the nation from 20 years past. Only 8% of them don’t believe that vaccinations are vital. In contrast, a horrific 21% of Republicans do not believe in the importance of vaccinating.
The implications of these findings are fatal. If 20% of millennials aren’t vaccinating their children, we’re shattering the protection of herd immunity as we speak. The New York Times broke down the consequences.
Of 10,000 people who get measles, 2,000 will end up in the hospital and up to 30 children will die. Of 10,000 people who get the flu, 14 will die. Of 10,000 women who get cervical cancer, which is caused by vaccine-preventable HPV, more than a third will die within five years.
For all the hysteria about our petty politics, anti-vaxxing has laid the groundwork for an epidemic resurgence of medieval proportions. Don’t say the polling didn’t warn you when it comes to your door.
