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COUNTY OF TRANSYLVANIA, N.C. (WLOS) – The head of the US Food and Drug Administration said that if the states did not need more schoolchildren to get vaccinated, the federal government might have to intervene.
At the present time, North Carolina law allows parents to exempt their children from vaccines for medical or religious reasons.
According to a state report, Buncombe County had last year the highest rate of religious exemptions from North Carolina.
"We are seeing trends, with families being less comfortable with the vaccination schedule and keen to make changes," said Elaine Russell, Transylvania County Health Director.
This year alone, the World Health Organization has designated the anti-vaccine movement as one of the biggest threats to global health.
"We are sorry to see some parts of the community changing or moving away from the vaccination schedule," said Russell.
The same goes for the chief of the FDA, which is one of the reasons the federal government may have to intervene soon.
"We wholeheartedly support the respect of the vaccination schedule," Russell said.
Almost all states allow children to go to school, even if their parents have decided not to use vaccines.
These vaccine exemptions are particularly popular in the state of Washington, where a measles outbreak began last month.
New York is also working to contain the largest epidemic of this type in decades, which began in October and sickened more than 200 people.
Here in the mountains, we have not seen anything so extreme, but Russell fears that this is not always the case.
"We have forgotten what it is to lose our children because of vaccine-preventable diseases," she said.
Russell said vaccines are essential for the health, well-being and protection of children and the community.
"As a local public health center in North Carolina, we all strongly support the immunization schedule," said Russell.
For now, the FDA commissioner has not said when the federal government should take action, or what these actions should be.
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