Amid hours of testimony in Hartford Wednesday about whether to remove religious exemptions for child vaccinations, Carl Baum had a unique perspective to offer: that of a Yale medical school professor who also serves as a pediatric emergency room physician.
“We watched six unvaccinated children die unnecessarily of measles,” he recalled of one stint in the emergency room.
The next pandemic will “probably be a mash-up of older flu strains,” and those most likely to survive are those who have been vaccinated, Baum said. He questioned why parents would choose to “gamble” with their children’s future.
Click on the video to watch and hear what Baum had to say.
Click here and here to read more about both sides of the debate at the state Capitol on a bill to remove the state’s religious exemptions for vaccinations. More than 500 people signed up to speak at a hearing that lasted long into the night.