You have probably heard that the United States is close to losing its measles elimination status, due to increasing numbers of measles cases since 2025.
Sadly, cases of vaccine-preventable diseases have been popping up around the country and in California.
You may have heard that Santa Barbara has made great strides to improve vaccine levels over the past decade, but you may not know about vulnerable pockets with low levels of immunity.
You may also know someone who has had all of their vaccines but still has contracted a vaccine-preventable disease. All of these facts are related.
We have made some progress, but we still need everyone’s help to build and maintain our community’s immunity.
Not every person can be vaccinated, perhaps because of an underlying medical condition, or maybe they are too young to receive their vaccines. Not everyone who gets their immunizations will develop a full immune response.
As a result, communities like ours rely on what is called “community immunity.” Studies show that when 95% of the population is immunized, we have just enough “community immunity” to greatly reduce the chances of vaccine-preventable diseases spreading to those who are vulnerable.
What Happens When We Fall Below 95%?
When more than 5% of the population is not immunized (or when there is a cluster of unvaccinated individuals), we weaken our community immunity and we become susceptible to the introduction and spread of vaccine-preventable diseases.
This is when we put friends, family and neighbors with compromised immune systems, cancer, organ transplants, pregnant women, infants, and other medically fragile individuals at risk.
This is also when we start to see vaccinated individuals, who did not get a great immune response from their vaccines, contract these diseases and spread them to others.
Our goal is to build and maintain community immunity at higher than 95%.
Thanks to a strong community coalition that dates back to 2014, called Strive for 95, and California Senate Bill 277, Santa Barbara schools have made significant strides in recent years to improve campus vaccine rates higher than 95%.
The most recently published state data showed that the incoming kindergarten classes in Santa Barbara County had reached the goal of greater than 95% vaccine rate. This is up significantly from 92.1% in 2012-13.
We should be very proud of this accomplishment.
While our overall rates may be improved, we have historically seen clusters of local kindergarten classes with levels as low as 55%. Should measles reach one of these classrooms, there is a high likelihood many of these students will contract the disease and potentially establish a measles outbreak in Santa Barbara.
Why Do Some Parents Opt Out of Vaccines?
In the late 1990s, a falsified paper was published that attempted to link the MMR vaccine to an increasing rate of autism. As a result, some parents decided to delay or not vaccinate their children and instead rely on high rates of community immunity to protect their children.
Despite numerous studies showing no link between vaccines and autism, and an admission that the paper’s author had falsified information, an anti-vaccine movement was born, and communities across the country have been experiencing a resurgence in vaccine-preventable diseases.
We now know there is no link between vaccines and autism, so why do some parents still opt out of vaccines?
This is a complex question, but here are some of the more common responses that we hear from parents:
“Vaccines aren’t needed anymore.” False. Whooping cough and measles are making a comeback.
“Vaccines can cause developmental delays.” False. Nothing in my field has been studied more than vaccine safety during the past 20-plus years. There is no link between vaccines and developmental delays.
“My baby will be protected by high rates of vaccination already in the community.” Maybe. While our local numbers are encouraging, we must continue to be vigilant about staying up to date on vaccines so we can continue to enjoy the peace of mind of having strong community immunity rates.
Strive for 95
Our goal should be to build and maintain our community immunity at higher than 95%.
The vast majority of parents are excited to help their children build strong immune systems through immunization, but they have not historically been the ones talking about the importance of vaccines to their friends.
Doctors need to keep talking to their patients, but ultimately parents need to continue to be proactive and help convince other parents about the importance of keeping our community immunity strong.
I’ve been in parent support groups where one parent has convinced a whole group of new parents to question the need for vaccines. We want parents to feel empowered and speak up at their support groups, on the playgrounds, and through social media about the importance of vaccines.
What Else Can We Do?
The science around vaccine safety and effectiveness has not changed. Thanks to AB 144, Californians will continue to follow the childhood vaccine schedule published by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Vaccines and coverage for vaccines will remain available as well.
Right now we need to focus on building our community immunity one school at a time, and strive to get all campus levels above 95%.
This has to happen if we want to have a fighting chance to keep vaccine-preventable disease out of our community.
It takes effort to explain the concept of community immunity and to help parents realize that opting out of immunizing puts their own kids and so many others at risk.
We all have a responsibility to do what is right for our own kids and families, but we are part of one community and we share an obligation to do what is right for the health of our community.
Let’s take the “me” out of measles and get vaccinated for the good of our children and our community.
Together we can Strive for 95 and continue to build maximum immunity in our community.
