Utah Gov. Spencer Cox has declared August as Immunization Awareness Month.
In his official declaration, Cox called vaccination a “safe, proven and invaluable tool for proactively safeguarding public health and preventing the devastating effects of vaccine-preventable diseases.”
He stressed that keeping vaccination rates high is crucial for community immunity, especially for highly contagious illnesses like measles, which require about 95% coverage to stop outbreaks.
The Utah Public Health Association applauded the governor’s move. Carrie Butler, the group’s executive director, told KSL that vaccine misinformation has made the association’s job tougher.
“The more disinformation that gets out there about immunizations and vaccines," she explained, "the less people are likely to get those required vaccines, which does lend itself to outbreaks."
Butler said she hopes the governor’s announcement will nudge those hesitant about vaccines to take action, protecting not only themselves but their communities.
The governor's announcement comes as Utah joins the long list of states experiencing measles outbreaks, with the nation as a whole recording its highest number of cases since the disease was eliminated in the U.S. in 2000.
Meanwhile, anti-vaccine sentiments are on the rise nationwide, and vaccination rates in Utah are some of the lowest in the country. The state holds the second-highest vaccine exemption rate in the U.S. for kindergartners, with more than 10% obtaining waivers, though only 0.3% were for medical reasons.
Moving forward, the governor wrote, Immunization Awareness Month will provide a “critical opportunity to educate the public, promote universal access to vaccines, and encourage community-centered immunization programs.”
