July 1, 2019

California kindergarten vaccination rate drops below 95% as affluent parents get medical exemptions

https://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-vaccination-rates-drop-20190701-story.html

California vaccination rate drops as doctors grant more exemptions. Is there a link?
By SOUMYA KARLAMANGLA a

California’s kindergarten vaccination rate dropped again in the most recent school year as more parents sought permission from doctors to not immunize their children, according to new state data.

The troubling trend comes amid a national measles outbreak as well as intense debate over whether California should strengthen its school immunization laws.


California already has one of the strictest vaccination laws in the country, preventing children from skipping their shots unless a doctor says they have a medical reason to be exempt. Some health advocates fear that parents are obtaining exemptions for their children without valid medical reasons. Those advocates are now pushing lawmakers to clamp down on fraudulent exemptions.

In the school year that ended last month, 4,812 kindergartners had obtained medical exemptions from vaccines, a 70% increase from two years ago, when the vaccination law first took effect, according to data from the California Department of Public Health. The data suggest that large concentrations of medical exemptions are being granted to school children in relatively affluent parts of the state, such as Santa Cruz and Sonoma counties.

The kindergarten vaccination rate in California dropped to 94.8% in 2018-19 from 95.1% in 2017-18 and 95.6% the previous year.

The school districts with the most medical exemptions were L.A. Unified, Capistrano Unified and San Diego Unified. The rate of medical exemptions in Capistrano Unified — a smaller district in Orange County — was 10 times higher than that of L.A. Unified’s.

July 1, 2019

90 year old Home Depot founder to continue to support Trump

https://www.foxbusiness.com/business-leaders/bernie-marcus-plans-to-donate-majority-of-his-fortune-trump-re-election

“[Trump’s] got a businessman’s common sense approach to most things,” Marcus said. “…Now, do I agree with every move that he makes? No, I don’t. But the truth is he has produced more than anybody else. He has. If we look at this country, I would say that we are better off today than we were eight years ago or six years ago.”

Marcus said Trump’s biggest flaw is his communication skills.

“I’ll tell you what he has not done well: His communication sucks. I mean he takes on every battle. He’s fighting. He does things he shouldn’t be doing,” he said. “As president of the United States, I’d rather him do things that are meaningful.”