Just before the April 17 California Department of Public Health announcement that the measles outbreak is officially over, a Santa Barbara County-based coalition announced its mission to regain a 95 percent vaccination rate in the community.
The outbreak started at Disneyland in December 2014, and because no new outbreak-related measles cases were reported to the department for 42 days, it was declared over. Health officials said 131 Californians contracted the virus.
Measles cases linked to the initial exposures at Disneyland re-initiated a nationwide conversation about vaccines and vaccination rates and a state-wide conversation that included legislation introduced to get rid of California’s personal-belief exemption.
Strive for 95 is a joint effort between the Cottage Health System, Sansum Clinic, Santa Barbara County Education Office, and the Santa Barbara Public Health Department because the “increase in vaccine refusals has reawakened preventable deadly diseases,” according to a Cottage Health press release.
“The Strive for 95 coalition aims to raise awareness about what we can do to provide the best immunity for our community,” the release said.
This article appears in Apr 23-30, 2015.