Tag: misinformation

  • Examining Marblehead school vaccine rates

    As controversy over childhood vaccinations rages nationwide, student immunization rates in Marblehead have remained steady over the past three years, with most schools reporting 90% or more of pupils have gotten all vaccines required by state law.

    Dr. Thomas Massaro, a retired pediatrician and the chair of the town’s Board of Health, said the community’s demographics likely play a key role in maintaining consistent vaccination rates.

    “Massachusetts is a pretty progressive state, and Marblehead is consistent with that,” he said. “About 77% of residents have at least one bachelor’s degree, and it’s an affluent community. People understand the benefits of vaccines, they judge them, and they decide to go ahead.”

    Statewide, the number of students with all vaccines required for school averages 94.4% for kindergarten students and 90.7% for grade 7 students. Pupils in some parts of Massachusetts are getting vaccinated less and requesting more exemptions in recent years, Department of Public Health data shows. Vaccination rates have been decreasing nationally since the COVID-19 pandemic, especially for kindergartners and as more parents question their effectiveness, though Massachusetts was recently rated by one national study as the state with the highest vaccine rates for all residents.

    State and local governments have the authority to impose vaccine requirements for students in their communities, though the U.S. Centers for Disease Control has traditionally recommended a vaccine schedule for those attending school. The CDC announced this month it was dropping recommendations that school-age children get six vaccines previously encouraged for students, including those aimed at preventing respiratory infections, Hepatitis A and B, and meningitis. Gov. Maura Healey, a Democrat, immediately announced students in Massachusetts would still be required to get all vaccines mandated by state law, which include some of those eliminated by the CDC.

    Massachusetts children, from those attending day care and pre-school programs through those attending college in the commonwealth, are required to get a slate of vaccines as they progress through grades, including those preventing chickenpox, polio, diphtheria and measles, among others.

    In December, state officials issued an alert about potential measles exposure in Massachusetts after an out-of-state visitor contracted the disease. Since 2020, there has been only one case of a Massachusetts resident getting the measles, state records show.   

    But for the first time in three decades, the number of measles cases in the U.S. rose to over 2,000 last year, according to the CDC. All 50 states require vaccinations for students, though Republican Florida lawmakers, including Gov. Ron DeSantis, have been battling to limit vaccine requirements. 

    Each year, the Massachusetts DPH surveys all day care, pre-school and kindergarten programs and middle and high schools, to gather immunization data on those in seventh and 12th grade.  Those grade levels are targeted to align with the required state-required vaccines for children of those ages. 

    Students can request a medical exemption from the vaccines if certified by their physician or a state can waive exemptions if mandated immunizations conflict with a student’s religious beliefs. Like the rest of the nation, medical and religious student vaccine exemption rates in Massachusetts have risen in the past four years, according to data shows. 

    In Marblehead, exemption rates across all programs and schools have hovered between 0% and 6% at the highest since 2022, DPH data shows. A bill pending in the Massachusetts legislature would remove the ability for a student to obtain religious exemptions, mirroring New York, Maine and Connecticut and California, which have eliminated them. 

    Massaro said the pandemic undermined public trust in government across age groups.

    “One of the long-term negative consequences of the pandemic was a loss of faith and trust in public health,” he said. “Vaccines are the prime face of public health to young people. If the pandemic caused overall questions about whether they can trust the CDC or FDA, then it’s not surprising there’s been a slight diminution.” 

    Massaro also warned that misinformation circulating at the federal level may further undermine confidence. 

    “We’re subject to a much bigger decline with all the misleading information coming out of (the U.S. Department of) Health and Human Services right now,” he said.

    Polls by the Kaiser Family Foundation show widening partisan divides over support for routine childhood vaccinations. At the same time, states have begun to diverge significantly in how they regulate school immunization requirements. New York and California eliminated nonmedical exemptions after large measles outbreaks in the past decade. Other states have moved in the opposite direction. Idaho, Oklahoma and Utah have expanded or clarified access to exemptions, reflecting the broader national debate. 

    “It is a balance between the individual and the community,” Massaro said. “People need to trust the systems that protect them.”

  • Five state legislators outline strategy to counter Trump administration at Brookline forum

    From left to right: Moderator Tom Hallock, State Senator Cindy Creem, State Representative Tommy Vitolo, State Representative Bill MacGregor, State Representative Greg Schwartz and State Representative Kevin Honan. Photo by Jacqueline Manetta

    Five Democratic state lawmakers advised Brookline residents Monday how to navigate the Trump administration and push back against its policies.

    About 70 people attended the forum, which featured state Sen. Cynthia Stone Creem and state Reps. Kevin Honan, William MacGregor, Greg Schwartz and Tommy Vitolo. It was hosted by the Brookline Democratic Town Committee and Activist Evenings, a progressive group based in Brookline.

    Tom Hallock, treasurer of the Brookline Democrats, asked the legislators questions about essential services, the environment and immigration. The group responded to three audience questions at the end and stayed afterwards to answer one-on-one questions.

    Creem cited the state Senate’s new committee, Response 2025, as a potential solution to the Trump administration’s cuts. The initiative has tasked the bipartisan Committee on Steering, Policy and Scheduling with finding policy solutions to combat misinformation and protect residents’ rights.

    Keeping political allies in office is one of the most effective ways to fight the executive branch’s polarizing policies, Vitolo said.

    “I think it’s really important in all of the things we talk about tonight to consider the reality that if Governor Healey doesn’t win reelection — or Attorney General Campbell doesn’t win reelection — we are in much worse shape,” he said.

    Schwartz, the only medical doctor in the Massachusetts legislature, said health care programs — and consequently state revenue — will be affected if defunding continues. If the U.S. Senate approves President Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” Massachusetts can expect its $14 billion of Medicaid reimbursement to be reduced, he said.

    “That could affect 200,000 to 300,000 patients losing Medicaid and, of course, it will affect the emergency rooms, the primary care physicians and the hospitals, which are already not in great shape,” Schwartz said.

    All five lawmakers emphasized the need for Massachusetts to remain at the forefront of responsible environmental efforts as federal environmental protections roll back. The legislators plan to concentrate on statewide initiatives such as expanding clean energy, increasing accessibility to electric vehicles and strengthening existing policies.

    The lawmakers also discussed immigration, which they identified as a core American principle that must be protected. Honan cited several bills that work to protect the rights of immigrants, including the federal Safe Communities Act, which prevents local law enforcement from asking about immigration status.

    “We say the best Americans represent hard work, taking chances, building a business, finding success, improving yourself and being part of a community,” Vitolo said. “These are all the things we say we value as a country, and the folks who do it best are the immigrants.”

    Before taking questions from the audience, Creem discussed the Massachusetts Data Privacy and Protection Act and its aim to support women’s reproductive health care rights.

    Under the bill, selling location data and other information collected on cellphones and devices would be prohibited. In recent court cases, consumers’ data from apps has been used  to prosecute health care providers and women receiving out-of-state abortions.

    “My hope is that we can protect that data and minimize the use of that data outside of what you intended it to be,” Creem said.

    The audience at a community forum on safeguarding democracy on Monday, Jun 9, 2025. Photo by Jacqueline Manetta

    Asked if the public has a role to play in resisting the Trump administration’s policies, the lawmakers urged residents to engage with opposing viewpoints and point out injustices.

    “Every second Saturday, from 11 to 1 p.m. in Coolidge Corner, we’re out there doing the very public work of reminding folks that this is not normal, and it’s perfectly reasonable to say it out loud,” Vitolo said.

    The audience erupted with applause as the panel of representatives was asked about increasing transparency in the state’s government.

    MacGregor said representatives are candid about financial statements and regularly audited.

    Creem said she posts her votes on social media to communicate with her constituents. The accusation of insufficient transparency has been brought to her attention before, but she said she doesn’t understand what voters mean or where their concerns come from.

    Schwartz, who was elected to his position in 2024, framed problems with transparency as a potential shortcoming of the media.

    The legislators’ answers to the transparency question were met with eye rolling and groans.

    The event closed with a discussion about reforming the Democratic party. Although Honan said he thinks Republicans will cause their own demise, MacGregor and Creem said Democrats must regain popularity with the working class.

    Vitolo and Schwartz agreed their party must find a message that speaks to a larger segment of the population.

    “We on the left like to play demographic bingo with our voters,” Vitolo said. “What they see is a Democratic party picking off little bits and pieces of certain people and saying, ‘That’s what’s important’ instead of saying everybody’s important.”