Community Corner
Mom's Talk: Vaccinations, Part 2
In our second week of vaccination discussions we look at a state wide program aimed at increasing vaccinations and what we think about the increasing role of government agencies in this aspect of health care.
Maybe you knew about this, maybe you didn’t: the New York State Immunization Information System (NYSIIS) is an ongoing, real time database containing a complete list of every child under the age of 19 who has received any immunization from Jan. 1, 2008 on.
It was started to support the Center for Disease Control’s strategic plan to decrease the number of vaccine-preventable disease outbreaks in the United State. All health care providers, in New York that administer a vaccination now report to a state-wide database that accumulates the total amount of information regarding every child’s immunization status - or lack thereof - from my understanding. It is supposed to be used to remind you when mandatory vaccinations need to be scheduled.
So, this is the discussion topic for the week: the NYSIIS database. Have you ever heard of it? What do you think about it? Does it make you feel like your some of your privacy is being violated? Does it make you wish you lived in one of the 19 or so states that offer a philosophical/non-medical exemption from vaccinations? Or do you feel assured knowing which children are and are not vaccinated?
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What about our trust in the role of government when it comes to our children’s health? Do you trust that government agencies such as the Center for Disease Control and The Department of Health and Human Services have your child’s best interest in mind when it comes to disease control? Why or why not?
I know these are a lot of questions. But, my hope is that these questions will push us to learn more about the ever-changing world we live in and how we see ourselves and our families fitting into it.
