Oregon doctor sees rising exemption requests for childhood vaccines, says more education needed

Oregon has one of the highest rates in the country for kindergarteners with vaccine exemptions. The state’s 7% rate is only lower than Utah’s (7.4%) and Idaho’s (9.8%). Ryan Hassan is a pediatrician in Happy Valley and also serves as the medical director for Boost Oregon, a parent-led nonprofit working to increase vaccinations for youth and adults through education.

Hassan says he’s seen an increase in the number of parents questioning long established vaccines, in addition to the skepticism around COVID-19 vaccines — which he says isn’t surprising, given the rise of disinformation showing up in mainstream and social media.

“Anti-vaccine profiteering is a very lucrative industry. And there are people who make quite a lot of money from selling the idea that vaccines are harmful. And there are alternatives to help people avoid disease that are safe … but it’s an area of our industry that is not as tightly regulated. So there’s more room for people to sell things that are not very well-studied or that have been proven to not be helpful.”