Snyder Recommends Vaccinations

Governor Rick Snyder says parents should vaccinate their children but stopped short of calling for Michigan to toughen its law that allows parents to opt-out of having their children vaccinated if they have a personal belief against it. A national debate has erupted against the anti-vaccination movement in recent weeks in response to more than 100 people, including one Michigan resident, contracting measles at the Disneyland amusement park in California. The Governor says he’s not going to jump into all the national dialogue going on other than to say measles is a serious disease and he hopes people would get their kids vaccinated unless they have a serious religious or other reason not to do so.
Michigan is one of 18 states that provide a personal belief exemption for vaccinations. Thirty states allow an exemption for religious or medical reasons only while just two states allow an exemption only for medical reasons.