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the legislature has to fund
Knowles Nelson again, and

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what priorities they'll
choose.

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>> Turning to health news,
a new Kaiser Family

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Foundation survey shows
adults with a higher usage

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of AI chatbots are more
likely to believe false

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information about vaccines.
Overall, child vaccination

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rates have decreased
globally since the pandemic.

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But as “Here& Now” student
journalist Elijah Pines

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points out, vaccination
rates have been decreasing

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and Wisconsin parents
seeking waivers increasing

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since the mid 80s.
>> Wisconsin student

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immunization law mandates
that any student wanting to

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enter the public school
system must have the

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required vaccines. If a
student doesn't meet the

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requirements, parents may
be charged up to $25 per

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day. Their child is
noncompliant, but no one in

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Wisconsin has been fined
under the statute that

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mandates compliance since
at least 2018, which is as

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far back as court data
tracks charges. Children

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can instead get a waiver
and be exempt from

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vaccination if there is a
medical or religious reason,

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or for reasons of personal
conviction. A personal

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conviction waiver is when a
parent believes their child

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should be exempt from a
vaccine. Wisconsin is one

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of 19 states that allow for
personal conviction waivers,

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and their popularity has
been steadily rising over

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the past couple of decades.
At the same time, the

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number of students up to
date on required vaccines

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has gone down. For public
health advocates, the

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numbers are concerning, but
vaccination rates in public

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health is more nuanced than
numbers alone. For starters,

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despite personal conviction
waivers going up, the vast

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majority of students get
the required vaccines 86.4%

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in the last school year.
Still, fewer students are

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meeting requirements than
they used to. One reason is

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because there are more
required shots than there

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were when the law was first
introduced from three

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required vaccines in 1975
to 7 required vaccines.

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Today, any time there has
been a change in

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requirements, compliance
goes down. These numbers

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also track all required
vaccines, both who's

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waiving some and who is
waiving them all. Last year,

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only 1.3% of students had
waivers exempting them from

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all vaccines, and that's
lower than it was in the

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previous year. Ultimately,
the state's job to control

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public health has to
respect individuals

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decisions, and a parent can
only control what's best

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for their own child. So how
can parents make the best

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choice when there's fewer
vaccines? Protecting the

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public? According to
Wisconsin DHS, the best

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answer is talking with the
child's doctor, saying

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public health and health
care providers across the

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state are here to help
families break down these

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barriers to keep families
safe from vaccine

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preventable diseases.
preventable diseases.