Sue Crawford
On a scale of “Strongly Agree” (5) to “Strongly Disagree,” (1) rank your position on the following statements:
Vaccines are safe: 5
Vaccines are effective at preventing disease: 5
Keeping children safe is a shared responsibility: 5
What is your position on West Virginia’s current school vaccine requirements (which allow only medical exemptions)?
Maintain current requirements
In your view, what role should the state play in ensuring access to vaccines—especially in rural or underserved communities?
It is the responsibility of the State to ensure availability to communities in every part of the State.
Which of the following best reflects your understanding?
Vaccines primarily protect the individual receiving them
Vaccines help protect both individuals and the broader community
Vaccination is largely a personal decision with limited community impact
Vaccination is a personal decision regardless of community impact
If a preventable disease outbreak (such as measles) occurred in your district, what actions—if any—would you take as a policymaker (e.g., make a statement regarding safety, coordinate with public health officials, take policy actions, encourage vaccination, etc.
The county health system should be tasked with immediate outreach to assess impacts and avail the public with testing and vaccination. The State should have a plan for information dissemination ongoing to the public and involve the disaster preparedness team in the area concerned and potentially affected.
Is there anything else you would like West Virginia voters to know about your approach to public health, community wellbeing, and/or vaccines?
I have friends who were damaged from polio. Were it not for the vaccine by Jonas Salk an entire generation would have been affected. Viruses exist everywhere and mutate. I understand the fears people have of an adverse side effect because that is a rare risk. As is life! Overwhelmingly science shows that intervention, vaccination, antibiotics, etc., prevent disease and save lives. The dense population that we have could not survive without vaccines. The flu destroyed so many in the early 1900s. We must get back in step with the WHO and regain a strong CDC and put back funds for research to help prevent any outbreak. Required vaccination was not done without reason and we have been fortunate enough not to have been touched by illnesses that exist in other nations now.
