BEAUMONT ENTERPRISE
Despite the nearly nine-month reprieve from large spikes in COVID-19 cases, many Texans remain angry and frustrated by a pandemic that is mostly in our rearview mirror.
COVID-19 left a wide wake: one in 300 people lost their life, many in our own families; school closures affected our children; social isolation exacerbated the ongoing mental health crisis; and economic hardships continue. In short, COVID-19 touched everyone, leaving many bitter and discouraged.
Not surprisingly, some members of the 88th Texas legislature feel the same, have heard similar sentiments from their constituents and, thus, have channeled their energy toward changing Texas law to ensure the next outbreak or pandemic will be managed differently. Unfortunately, post-pandemic concerns, combined with a surge of medical misinformation and anti-science beliefs, have led to the filing of numerous misguided, if not potentially harmful, bills. Among them are potential laws that would: limit future vaccine requirements for school entry, prohibit the exclusion of unvaccinated students from school during any outbreak, eliminate the role of the Texas Department of State Health Services in determining school vaccine requirements, and prohibit the ability of private employers, including hospitals, to require vaccination of their employees. Should any of these be passed into law, physicians’ and elected officials’ hands would be so restrictively tied as to make it difficult, if not impossible, to confront the next outbreak.
While another outbreak on the heels of the COVID-19 pandemic may seem unlikely, Ohio and Kentucky were recently reminded of a highly contagious disease – measles. Measles can cause life-threatening pneumonia or encephalopathy, a serious brain disease. In November 2022, a measles outbreak occurred among unvaccinated children in Ohio; 85 children were infected with 36 requiring hospitalization. In February 2023, an unvaccinated person with a history of international travel attended a sizeable religious gathering in Kentucky; as many as 20,000 people may have been exposed to this asymptomatic but infectious person. In either instance, an unvaccinated or under-vaccinated child or adult can unknowingly spread measles to someone who is too young to be vaccinated, unable to be vaccinated for medical reasons or immunocompromised and vulnerable despite prior vaccination. When it comes to infectious diseases, one person’s decision to forego vaccines for themselves or their child can have damaging, if not catastrophic, consequences for another. Unlike adults, children do not have a voice in the matter, and they are at greatest risk for experiencing complications from measles and other vaccine-preventable diseases.
Just as we have laws to keep Texas’ roads safe, we have laws to protect each other and to ensure that adults and children are safe from harmful, and even deadly, contagious diseases.
Should a vaccine-preventable disease outbreak occur in Texas, multiple bills currently under consideration would severely limit the ability of state and local public health authorities to prevent or halt the spread of disease, even if the emerging disease had a high fatality rate. While many of these bills were filed with the intent to protect us all, we encourage lawmakers and all Texans to take a moment to pause and assess the long-term implications of these bills. During the COVID-19 pandemic, lives were saved because our state and local health departments, as well as our personal physicians, relied on evidence-based medicine and sound scientific principles. When considering each of these bills, we strongly urge lawmakers to seek advice from the same hardworking, reputable physicians, nurses and scientists who worked selflessly to save lives during the pandemic. While the pandemic affected us all, limiting the ability of elected officials, public health authorities and employers to prevent or mitigate the spread of contagious diseases will have far-reaching and disastrous consequences for future outbreaks.
Contagious viruses and bacteria will continue to challenge us and shape human history. While it is imperative that we learn from COVID-19 to improve our collective future, we must also temper our frustration and control the impulse to implement changes that could ultimately do more harm than good. We need to work together to ensure that people of all ages are protected from communicable diseases through sound, rational policies.
Signed,
Julie A. Boom, MD, Scientific Advisory Council, The Immunization Partnership
Rachel M. Cunningham, MPH
C. Mary Healy, MD, Board Member, The Immunization Partnership
Maria Elena Bottazzi, PhD, Scientific Advisory Council, The Immunization Partnership
Lindy McGee, MD, Scientific Advisory Council, The Immunization Partnership
Flor M. Muñoz, MD
Jaimie C. Osvog, RN
Pedro A. Piedra, MD
Leila C. Sahni, PhD
Gordon E. Schutze, MD
Stanley Spinner, MD, Scientific Advisory Council, The Immunization Partnership
Mark A. Turrentine, MD