Here's Where Major Religions Actually Stand On Vaccines

West Virginia’s Senate is reviewing a bill that would allow public school students to receive religious exemptions from vaccinations. Debate over parents opting out of their children’s vaccinations have centered around the issue of “herd immunity” ― the fact that a large majority of a population must be immunized in order for that community to be protected against infectious disease. Despite what researchers have called a potential “public health crisis,” the majority of states currently offer religious exemptions. If the bill passes, West Virginia would become the 47th.  And yet, as a number of writers have pointed out, the pervasiveness of religion-based exemptions doesn’t reflect reality. No major religion has explicit, doctrinal objections to vaccinations. John Grabenstein, Senior Medical Director for Adult Vaccines for Merck Vaccines, published a paper on religious beliefs surrounding immunization in the peer-reviewed medical journal Vaccine in 2013. Anti-vaccinators could argue that Grabenstein’s role with a company that manufactures and distributes vaccines poses a conflict of interest, but the paper notes that the researcher is himself a practicing Roman Catholic and has spent decades investigating the religious aspects of immunization. Grabenstein found that only two religious groups ― Christian Scientists and the Dutch Reformed Church ― have demonstrated a precedent of widely rejecting vaccina...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news