I was very young then, but I can distinctly recall the polio scare of the 1950s. “He got polio,” somebody would whisper, and suddenly the play-area and –mates of we neighborhood children would be sharply circumscribed and enforced. When a polio vaccine was developed and widely available — in my neighborhood in Detroit it was administered one Saturday at the local elementary school — everybody went and stood in line and got their shot, classmates to rarely seen elderly neighbors.
It was a matter of personal protection, but not just personal protection; it was explained to we schoolchildren as a matter of good citizenship, too.
Overnight, polio practically disappeared; in 2017 there were only 22-cases reported … worldwide.
Presently, North Carolina requires proof of the following vaccinations before children are permitted to enroll in public schools:
- Diphtheria, Tetanus, Whooping Cough
- Polio
- Measles
- Mumps
- Rubella
- Hepatitis
- Chicken Pox
When is the last time you heard of any child catching any of those sicknesses? It’s been quite a while, I’ll bet.
So, puh-leeze, spare me the empty-headed rhetoric about the state not having any business demanding that vaccine be put in your body; the public has every right on earth to impose reasonable conditions upon the use of public facilities. A Covid vaccine should be added to the list upon verification that it is safe for children.