I feel very strongly about them. I would consider myself pro-vaccine. I'll admit that I find it very frustrating when I hear about the anti-vaxx movement trying to spread misinformation in general-but in particular to insular and vunerable communities. In NJ we have a heavily orthodox Jewish population in a particular town/county and measles is spreading. I think there are 150+ cases now. Many of the leaders of this community are doing their best to educated their members and explain that there are no textual, religious mandates that would prevent one from getting vaccines. Most of the cases of measles have been traced back to unvaccinated international travelers that bring back the disease to their communities.
I heard a quote that was something like.. its no big deal, many adults live through getting the measles and that it used to be considered "typical" to get it when you were a child. I think there have been some instances where people have had "measles parties" to encourage children to get it, to get it over with.
The flu shot is another one that I get fired up about. Not every year is it a good match for the strain that is virulent but even if you do catch it having had the shot- it makes it much more manageable. My whole family started getting the flu shot 5 years ago and no one has gotten it since except for last year when my daughter caught on of the strains that the vaccine wasn't a good match for. Even then she suffered through a day and a half of a fever and it went away within a week and was mild. I still know people that had the flu so bad last year that they are still weak and not 100%.
NJ is trying to do away with religious exemptions. I believe they already passed a law that "objections" do not count as exemptions. I struggle with the whole idea of a government mandating a shot but the herd immunity thing is real. Any immuno-compromised person can be affected if a large swath of a community isn't vaccinated. I have an autoimmune disease- I vaccinate/have been vaccinated but I am an adult. A child might not be so lucky.
All are welcome to share on this provided that everyone is respectful of each other without attacking anyone.