Re: “” March 11 Dottie Lamm column.
Are lawmakers really swayed by a “vociferous minority of anti-vaccine parents,” as Dottie Lamm claims? This statement is not fair to our elected officials.
The term “anti-vaccine parents” is discriminatory and hurtful. This labeling encourages disrespect toward citizens who exercise their rights and question the one-size-fits-all policy that every child should be vaccinated with 69-70 doses regardless of their religious, personal, family history or biochemical makeup.
Lamm’s column calls for a 95 percent target for herd immunity; what is the basis for that? Is it a political set-up for mandated vaccines? Do the 4 percent to 5 percent of people who use vaccine exemptions stand in the way of an artificial 95 percent herd standard?
Yes, there are vocal people promoting medical freedom, which is supported by the Nuremberg Code, the U.S. Constitution and Colorado statutes. Our voices are heard by thoughtful lawmakers who support these freedoms.
Francis Sincere, Lakewood
The writer is president of the Colorado Coalition for Vaccine Choice.
I want to thank Dottie Lamm for her column on the importance of childhood immunization rates. As a Colorado parent who wants her children (and her community) to stay as safe as possible from preventable diseases, I think itap critical to cut through the misinformation that exists around this topic and speak up for public health.
Parents should know that Colorado law allows them to know the immunization rate at any school or licensed child care center that they are considering for their child. They also need to understand why this information matters — because pockets of unvaccinated children greatly increase the risk of a deadly outbreak.
Individual parents can — and do — make their own choices about whether to protect their children with vaccines, but when it comes to public policy we have a right to insist that our laws are based on sound science and established facts, not social media conspiracies.
Alexandra Fickenscher, Denver
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