New Poll Shows Overwhelming Public Support for Vaccines

 

Oklahoma City, Okla., Nov. 26, 2019 - Public polling results released today by the Oklahoma Alliance for Healthy Families show 96% of Oklahomans believe vaccines are effective at preventing disease. The statewide telephone poll, conducted of 1,039 Oklahomans from Oct. 15-21 by conservative pollster Chris Wilson, has a margin of error of +/-3. 

 

The Oklahoma Alliance for Healthy Families is a statewide coalition of public health experts and parents with the goal of improving the health of our schools, communities and families through education and engagement.

 

According to the poll released today:

 

• 9 in 10 Oklahomans support immunizing adolescents on time and according to CDC guidelines;

• More than half of Oklahomans oppose the personal exemption currently on the books in Oklahoma, which allows parents to decline preventative, medically recommended vaccines for minors in their care;

• 71% of Oklahomans oppose legislation to loosen vaccination requirements; and,

• 84% of Oklahomans support requiring schools to collect and maintain information about their students’ vaccination status, with 76% supporting public release of that data.

 

“This data shows that the vast majority of Oklahomans want science-based health policy,” said Dr. Savannah Stumph, chairperson for the Oklahoma Alliance for Healthy Families. “Immunizations are a safe and effective means of preventing life-altering and even deadly diseases. Parents should be fully educated by health care professionals – not by what they read on social media – before refusing this protection for their children.”

 

“Oklahoma’s high exemption rate is a factor in national health rankings,” said Dr. Larry Bookman, Oklahoma State Medical Association president. “If we’re going to be a Top Ten state, we need common sense health policies, including science-based immunization policy.”

 

Members of the Oklahoma Alliance for Healthy Families are:

Oklahoma State Medical Association

Tulsa Health Department 

Oklahoma Academy of Family Physicians

American Academy of Pediatrics - Oklahoma Chapter

Oklahoma Nurses Association

Oklahoma Osteopathic Association

Central Oklahoma Immunization Coalition

Tulsa Area Immunization Coalition

Oklahoma Dental Association

Oklahoma Partnership for School Readiness

Oklahoma City-County Health Department

American Federation of Teachers - Oklahoma Chapter

Oklahoma County Medical Society

Care Providers Oklahoma