Member approved December 14, 2023

WHEREAS, there is considerable evidence that many vaccines for people of all ages have had a significant public health impact¹; and

WHEREAS, school age screening mandates help ensure that students are healthy²; and

WHEREAS, we need 95 percent immunization to create herd immunity³; and

WHEREAS, non-medical exemptions have increased thereby reducing rates below herd immunity⁴; and

WHEREAS, Minnesota has had outbreaks of vaccine preventable diseases among school aged children⁵; and

WHEREAS, Minnesota’s outbreaks have impacted communities of color in greater numbers⁶

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Minnesota Public Health Association supports:

1. Policies that encourage vaccination;

2. Promoting public policies that oppose non-medical exemptions to school age vaccine mandates.

1. Echeverria-Londono, S., Li, X., Toor, J. et al. How can the public health impact of vaccination be estimated? BMC Public Health 21, 2049 (2021).
   https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-021-12040-9
   

2. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; Health and Medicine Division; Board on Population Health and Public Health Practice; Committee on Applying Neurobiological and Socio-Behavioral Sciences from Prenatal Through Early Childhood Development: A Health Equity Approach; Negussie Y, Geller A, DeVoe JE, editors. Vibrant and Healthy Kids: Aligning Science, Practice, and Policy to Advance Health Equity. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 2019 Jul 25. 1, The Need to Intervene Early to Advance Health Equity for Children and Families. Available from:
   https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK551489/
   

3. Plotkin, S.L. and Plotkin, S.A. (2004) A Short History of Vaccination. Vaccines, 5, 1-16.
   https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/B9781416036111500052
   

4. News, M. P. R. (2023, September 8). Back-to-school vaccinations urged as MN immunization rate declines. Twin Cities
   https://www.twincities.com/2023/09/06/back-to-school-vaccinations-encouraged-as-minnesotas-immunization-rate-declines/
   

5. Leslie TF, Delamater PL, Yang YT. It could have been much worse: The Minnesota measles outbreak of 2017. Vaccine. 2018 Mar 27;36(14):1808-1810. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2018.02.086. Epub 2018 Feb 26. PMID: 29496348; PMCID: PMC6626669

6. Covid-19 Vaccine Equity in Minnesota. COVID-19 Vaccine Equity in Minnesota - MN Dept. of Health. (n.d.)
   https://www.health.state.mn.us/diseases/coronavirus/vaccine/mnsvi.html