Media/Policy Watch
This section is intended to alert readers to substantive news, analysis and opinion from the general media on vaccines, immunization, global; public health and related themes. Media Watch is not intended to be exhaustive, but indicative of themes and issues CVEP is actively tracking. This section will grow from an initial base of newspapers, magazines and blog sources, and is segregated from Journal Watch above which scans the peer-reviewed journal ecology.

We acknowledge the Western/Northern bias in this initial selection of titles and invite suggestions for expanded coverage. We are conservative in our outlook in adding news sources which largely report on primary content we are already covering above. Many electronic media sources have tiered, fee-based subscription models for access. We will provide full-text where content is published without restriction, but most publications require registration and some subscription level.

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Al Jazeera
http://america.aljazeera.com/search.html?q=vaccine
Accessed 18 April 2015
Australia to deny benefits to parents refusing to vaccinate their children
Prime Minster Tony Abbott’s ‘no jab, no pay’ policy to withhold welfare and child care benefits of up to $11,500 a year
April 12, 2015 11:49AM ET
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott announced Sunday that the country is to adopt a “no jab, no pay” policy to deny some government benefits to parents who refuse to vaccinate their children.
The policy change comes amid a debate over immunization for children, with some parents believing — despite overwhelming medical evidence to the contrary — vaccines against deadly diseases are dangerous.
The anti-vaccination movement has coincided with the resurgence of measles, a preventable disease, in some European countries as well as in U.S. states such as Colorado and California.
“It’s essentially a ‘no jab, no pay’ policy from this government,” Abbott told reporters in Sydney. “It’s a very important public health announcement. It’s a very important measure to keep our children and our families as safe as possible.”
Under current Australian laws, parents who have conscientious objections about immunization can claim child care and welfare payments.
If the measures are passed, those parents would be denied the payments — which include child care rebates, benefits and family tax benefit supplements — reportedly missing out on up to $11,500 per child annually.
Parents unwilling to vaccinate the children on medical or religious grounds would still be allowed to tap into the benefits, although under tighter eligibility requirements…

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Forbes
http://www.forbes.com/
Accessed 18 April 2015
Polio Vaccine Found “Safe And Effective” 60 Years Ago: What Would Salk Think Today?
It was 60 years ago yesterday that the nation heaved an enormous collective sigh of relief. The largest clinical trial for a vaccine in history had concluded, the data had been collected and analyzed, and the results were announced on April 12, 1955, coincidentally the ten-year anniversary of polio sufferer […]
Tara Haelle, Contributor Apr 13, 2015

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The Guardian
http://www.guardiannews.com/
Accessed 18 April 2015
California declares Disneyland measles outbreak over as vaccine fight rages on
No new cases reported in state in 42 days
Outbreak sickened 150 effectively over in US but still a problem in Quebec
Raya Jalabi and agencies
Friday 17 April 2015 16.46 EDT

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New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/
Accessed 18 April 2015
California Parents Opposing State-Mandated Vaccinations Delay Vote
By ROBERT B. GUNNISONAPRIL 15, 2015
SACRAMENTO — Several hundred Californians swarmed the State Capitol on Wednesday to oppose a bill that would eliminate their right not to vaccinate their children against contagious diseases like measles. They were able to help stall a committee vote on the legislation by a week.
The bill, introduced after a measles outbreak over the winter that originated at Disneyland, would require nearly all children to be vaccinated, eliminating the growing use of the so-called personal belief exemption that has contributed to the spread of preventable diseases. Parents who refused to immunize their children and did not have a medical exemption would be forced to teach their children at home.
The bill, which was passed by the State Senate’s Health Committee, was up for a hearing on Wednesday before the Senate Education Committee. There, the small but vocal minority of parents who object to scientifically proven vaccinations showed up in force and helped stall the measure.

Herd Immunity
Why California’s Approach to Tightening Vaccine Rules Has Potential to Backfire
APRIL 14, 2015
In a number of states, parents are allowed to opt out of legal requirements to have their children vaccinated before entering school by claiming a “personal belief” or “philosophical” exemption. These provisions have raised a great deal of concern since the Disneyland measles outbreak, including in California, where it began. Unfortunately, the blundering approach state legislators there have taken shows how direct attacks on exemptions can rally the anti-vaccine cause.
Senate Bill 277, which would eliminate the personal belief exemption, passed the Senate Health Committee on a 6-2 vote last week and heads to its second hearing in the Education Committee on Wednesday. The bill is scheduled to go through multiple committees, which is creating numerous opportunities for opponents to promote misinformation about the supposed dangers of vaccines.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an anti-vaccine leader, compared the issue to the Holocaust in comments in Sacramento before the screening of a scientifically unsubstantiated anti-vaccine film last week. An anti-vaccine group from Minnesota financed the airing of a television ad showing an infant having a seizure. Other vaccine opponents made similarly dubious claims about the risks of immunization in testimony to the Health Committee and jeered vaccine advocates from the audience…