Mississippi: Last In Everything, First In Vaccinations
The Magnolia state is used to being last on measures of childhood well-being—but it’s beating the rest of the nation when it comes to immunization rates.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/10/17/mississippi-last-in-everything-first-in-vaccinations.html
"Be it wealth, health, or education, when it comes to most measures of well-being, there is one state that reliably comes in last place. Mississippi is so used to trailing the pack in these rankings that it was a surprise when the state moved up to #49 in the annual Kids Count report last year. It was the first time in 24 years, since the Annie E. Casey Foundation first issued its survey, that Mississippi didn’t sit at the very bottom. (It fell back to last place in 2014.)
But there’s one indicator where Mississippi’s children outperform every other state: childhood vaccination rates. Yet, as the state that always seems to be struggling finds true success in this health measure, some residents are complaining its only evidence of a health department gone too far.
All states have some kind of requirement that mandates the vaccines children five and older must receive before they can enter public schools or state-licensed daycares. For the 2013-2014 school year, practically 100 percent of Mississippi’s 45,000 kindergartners were up-to-date on their required immunizations, according to newly released statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
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Meanwhile, my home state of Oregon is dead last.
Ugh.
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