There was one vote in Maine on Tuesday night where “no” was definitely the right answer. That was a no vote to an effort to overturn new laws requiring childhood vaccinations. And as the Portland Press Herald reports, this is one case where anti-vaccination forces lost by a wide margin. With over three-quarters of the vote counted, the vote was 73% to 27% to retain the vaccination law.
This vote ensures that Maine will be one of just five states that forbid exemptions to vaccination requirements for anything other than medical reasons. And it means that Maine will provide the maximum protection to those who genuinely cannot handle vaccinations. It’s a terrific outcome—and a terrific signal of support for science and public health, right at a moment when that support needs to be at its highest.
As the Press Herald notes, Maine joins California, New York, Mississippi, and West Virginia on the list of states that don’t allow parents to opt out of vaccinating their children for religious or other grounds. A “yes” would have overturned a new law that eliminate non-medical exemptions before the legislation even goes into effect. But the strong “no” vote keeps that law intact, meaning that children who begin school in 2021 will be required to have all their vaccines.
This vote is especially important for Maine because in the past, the state has had one of the highest rates of parents opting out of required vaccinations. In the last school year, 5.6% of parents chose not to vaccinate their children. That high percentage of opt-outs generates a pool of potential carriers of dangerous diseases such as measles, which can then affect infants, the elderly, or children who cannot take the vaccine for medical reasons such as an impaired immune system.
In 2019, Maine was one of several states that suffered measles outbreaks, with 25 school-aged children in Somerset County reporting symptoms of the highly contagious and dangerous disease. While everyone attempts to define the case fatality rate (CFR) of coronavirus and argues over whether current estimates of 2-3% are accurate, the CDC reports the CFR of measles at 15%.
That’s not the kind of chance any parent could take. Fortunately, Maine voters agree.
