Gov. DeWine plans to stay the course on vaccines

Ohio will continue promoting the benefits of vaccines and supporting vaccinations, despite some Republican leaders casting doubt on their legitimacy and Florida making an effort to ban requirements (Source: “Unlike Florida, Ohio will stay the course on vaccines, governor says,” News 5 Cleveland via Ohio Capital Journal, Sept. 11).
 
Gov. Mike DeWine and Health Director Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff will continue following the decades of science that show vaccines are safe, DeWine’s team said.
 
The percentage of kids starting kindergarten with their vaccinations continues to decline on a state and national level for diseases like diphtheria, whooping cough, measles, mumps and polio.
 
In the 2019-2020 school year, vaccination rates were at 89.9%, Vanderhoff said. Those numbers are now down to 85.4%, a 4.5% decrease over five years.