They asked for bills to be read at length. They gave a history of the man-made chemicals perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl. There was even a request for an amendment to dedicate a bill to the 1980s TV show “Magnum, P.I.” Republicans in the Colorado legislature deployed filibuster tactics Friday in an attempt — for the second […]
measles
Posted inCOVID, Health, News
Colorado’s already low childhood vaccination rates plummet as parents put off doctor visits
Families avoiding immunization appointments for fear of COVID-19 contagion are further undercutting Colorado’s abysmal childhood vaccination rates, state health leaders say, raising the possibility of new outbreaks of previously vanquished illnesses such as measles or diphtheria. Childhood immunizations in the first two months of the outbreak have dropped nearly 20% from a year ago at […]
Posted inHealth, News, Politics and Government
Colorado lawmakers failed to pass a bill to improve immunization rates in 2019. Here’s what’s new this year.
After three siblings were diagnosed with measles at Children’s Hospital Colorado in December, public health officials began tracking down 258 other patients who visited the emergency department that day and were potentially exposed to the disease. Public health workers needed to find the children who came to the hospital that Saturday night, the parents and […]
Posted inHealth, News, Politics and Government
To boost low measles vaccination rates, public health agencies are targeting Colorado’s biggest counties
Public health officials in five of Colorado’s most populous counties are trying to make a dent in the state’s low measles vaccination rate, targeting parents of kindergarteners as they warn rates are too low to prevent an outbreak. In Denver County, the parents of about 800 children ages 4-6 got letters notifying them their kids […]
Posted inColoradans, Health, News, Politics and Government
Colorado’s near-lowest vaccination rates have schools ready to enforce state law to prevent an outbreak
Concern that Colorado is vulnerable to a major outbreak of measles, mumps or whooping cough has prompted a few school districts to try something new: follow state law. Colorado requires that school districts exclude students from school if they do not have up-to-date immunizations or exemptions on file. But most districts do not follow that […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: Colorado vaccination bill would have set a dangerous and discriminatory precedent
The assertion by Dr. Edwin J. Asturias in The Colorado Sun that the minority of parents using school vaccine exemptions were only being asked to make a “small effort” is misleading. Parental efforts were already increased with the passage of HB-1288 in 2014, which also provided the health department with the vaccination coverage and exemption […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: Colorado lawmakers are gambling with measles
Senate legislators and Gov. Jared Polis better pray measles doesn’t come to Colorado the way it has to California, Washington and New York. After weeks of hard work and compromise by committed legislators, public health officials, scientists and concerned parents, House Bill 1312 was ready for discussion on the Senate floor. Suddenly, politics […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: There’s a nationwide measles outbreak. We still must act to keep Colorado children safe.
TWith just days left in the Colorado Legislature, an important bill that would have improved the state’s dangerously low vaccination rates died in the Senate. Senate leadership said it wasn’t on their “must do” list, and Republicans seemed ready to try to stop the measure, based largely on philosophical ideology and partly on misinformation about […]
Posted inHealth, Opinion, Opinion Columns
Carman: Time to kick the deliberately reckless disease vectors out of the herd
Public health officials across Colorado have been on high alert for weeks. They’re watching nervously to see if the one case of measles confirmed in Denver on Jan. 15 will lead to an outbreak. It’s no small concern. Thanks to state laws that allow parents to opt-out of immunizations — well, just because — it’s […]