ICWA Weekly News 4-23-25
HB 1531 now law - we look for a silver lining; SMF + Vires Law petitions Florida to investigate Fauci et al.; 3 more public health meetings monitored by ICWA; hep B horror in NY and WA; DOH pushes MMR
In this issue:
HB 1531 signed by Governor Ferguson
Silent Majority Foundation and Vires Law update Florida complaint against Fauci
Public comments point out vaccine misinformation
WVA meets twice, ignores flu vax problem, admits to unknown funding losses
Hepatitis B vaccine adverse reactions in Washington
DOH markets measles vax for Immunization Week
April 18 Episode of Informed Life Radio – Notes and Links
Ferreting out Fauci’s Crimes (also on CHD.TV)
Guests: BONUS: James Lyons-Weiler, PhD, explains the bombshell recommendations by CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) during the first 15 minutes of the show. Could the tone be changing?
Then, Rachel Rodriguez and Mimi Miller of the Vires Law Group discuss their formal requests of the Arizona and Pennsylvania Attorneys General to open criminal investigations of Dr. Anthony Fauci and other officials for alleged crimes committed against the citizens during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Donate to Vires: https://formerfedsgroup.org/donate/ and designate funds for "AG Action."
Upcoming:
May 3, Spokane, Lessons Learned from COVID; Taking Back Medicine - Dr. McCullough, Scott Atlas, Mary Talley Bowden, Kelly Victory, Robbie Raugh, Dr. Kinley, Shawn and Janet Needham
May 6 and 7, GiveBIG – donate during ICWA’s semi-annual fundraiser since there’s so much more work to do in Washington
Mid-may:
and conduct oral arguments in 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in Stockton v. FergusonMay 18, Washington Parents Network at Bethel Community Church, Washougal
May 23, Preparing for the Next Pandemic, Patriots United Washington final event, Robert Scott Bell, Scott Miller, Joyce Choe, Washougal/Black Pearl, 6-9 PM
HB 1531 Signed into Law
In a ceremony televised on TVW, Governor Ferguson signed into law thirty-five House bills, including HB 1531 at the end the long list.
Ferguson’s signature ceremony for HB 1531 [at 1:24:20 of the recording] was a bit bizarre in that he was joined by sixteen women and one man. Why are women so involved in public health issues? The only other male to join the Governor was the dastardly Sen. Paul Harris (LD 17) who was also the only Republican legislator in either chamber to support the bill. Why does Paul Harris support heavy-handed public health laws so much? Prime Sponsor Rep. Dan Bronoske could not make the ceremony due to an incident on the way to the Legislative Building. We certainly hope he’s alright, bless his heart.
The wording in the bill remained the same after passing through the House, claiming urgency because of increased bird flu, tuberculosis and sexually transmitted diseases, with no mention of the real reason – the Franklin County Resolution against gene therapy shots. Many bill opponents on our side saw the legislation as a guarantee that public health officials will be sure to issue and enforce vaccine mandates for any kind of outbreak.
We don’t see it as that bad. And we might even see silver linings – so keep reading.
To cut to the core of the rather short bill, we can parse it out into three main operative phrases:
…state and local health officials must…implement and promote evidence-based, appropriate measures to control the spread of communicable diseases, including immunizations and vaccines.
The state and its political subdivisions may not enact statutes, ordinances, rules, or policies that prohibit the implementation and promotion of such measures.
Any such statute, ordinance, rule, or policy in place on the effective date of this section is hereby declared null and void.
So, one silver lining could be that the bill is so vaguely worded that it will be impossible to decide on an evidence-based measure utilizing the best available science, when the science is debatable and always changing. We can take this as a persistent call to action to consistently remind our public health officials about the best science they may not be reading for some reason.
Another silver lining for medical freedom is that the majority party (and Paul Harris) are doubling down on public health power and control. With the people’s trust in public health officials already torn to shreds, they will have to use greater discretion when implementing any measure in hopes that someone will comply.
Other ways to look at HB 1531:
Gov. Ferguson, along with 16 public health lovers and Senator Paul Harris (LD 17, R), snubbed the 10,000+ citizens who opposed.
Good thing this bill was passed. Now public health officials will be forced to use evidence-based communicable disease prevention measures, unlike the random measures they forced on the populace during the pandemic. Or,
Thank you Democrats and Sen. Paul Harris (LD 17, R) for leaving HB 1531 so vague.
With this new law, health districts can now decide their own public health measures, as long as it is backed by science. (If only they had done that during the pandemic.)
Cost savings: Gov. Ferguson can now fire local health officers because HB 1531 takes away local decision-making authority.
Please continue to hold our public health officials accountable to using the best-available science.
Silent Majority Foundation and Vires Law Update Florida Complaint Against Fauci
The
, the Washington State legal team for which we are so grateful, has continued to work with the Vires Law Group to petition the Florida AG to investigate Anthony Fauci and other health officials and seek accountability for the harms they caused during Covid.Since they first filed in October 2023, Silent Majority just published through Substack that “over 40 additional victims have come forward to be part of this petition and more evidence of crime has been revealed, including an effort from the President of the United States of America to be more transparent on the origins of COVID-19. Additionally, with new United States and Florida Attorneys General, we believe that time is of the essence to pursue this justice.”
The press-release publication explained the petition in more detail:
On April 14, 2025, Vires Law Group sent a Request to Investigate and Prosecute COVID Patient Abuse & Hospital Homicide to Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, Esq. This petition "is specific to Florida law and specifically includes the identities and stories of seventy-five (75) Florida victims, representing thousands of victims across the state, as well as publicly available evidence that supports investigation and prosecution . . ."
Prosecution is requested of Anthony Fauci, Deborah Birx, Peter Daszak, Rochelle Walensky, and other public health officials at the time.
Listen to Bernadette Pajer’s Informed Life Radio interview of Vires Law Group attorneys Rachel Rodriguez and Mimi Miller conducted just last week.
Public Comments Point Out Vaccine Misinformation
The Washington Department of Health’s Vaccine Advisory Committee (VAC) has twenty-one members. That’s a lot. But when the roll call was given, only a few of them were present for their April 10 meeting.
After the roll call came the “Conflict of Interest Declaration.”
At the start of his public comment, Derek Kamppainen mentioned his hope that the VAC members would heed the conflicts of interest policy. He then questioned the VAC for their unwavering vaccine promotion. “Is it possible by recommending some of these vaccinations, we are trading in a mild week-long illness for a lifetime of chronic disease? or even death?”
He went on to ask: “And have these vaccines been properly tested for safety? They have not, unfortunately. Not one single study exists that shows the vaccines are safer than a true placebo, that’s like a saltwater placebo. All the vaccines were tested using another vaccine as placebo.”
Derek suggested that the VAC members needed to look at studies comparing vaccinated versus unvaccinated. “An easy way that we could prove to the public that vaccines are safe and effective would be to publish the results of a simple vaccinated versus unvaccinated study. Vaccinated children are always healthier in every respect. Unfortunately, the government will never publish results of vax versus unvax.”
Indeed, what the VAC members need to do is thoroughly read the book Vax-Unvax by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Brian Hooker for studies of these comparisons so that they might re-think their ‘advice’ to the DOH.
But Derek delved into why this probably won’t happen. “They know that the results would cause the entire program to crumble,” he said.
Derek then gave the following example:
Hepatitis B vaccine given to infants day one of life. It’s a sexually transmitted thing that can be spread by sharing IV needles and it’s not a risk for most newborns and moms if they are tested for it. If they test negative, there’s zero reason it’s needed, and any protection wears off by the age of twelve anyway, which is long before kids are sexually active. What we’re not giving parents is full informed consent. If we did give them full informed consent, this vaccine would be a no brainer to say no to. Imagine you’re the parent of a newborn child, and the doctor informs you if you’d like to receive this hepatitis vaccine for your child, your child would be 8.63 times more likely to require special education services in their lifetime. Would you say yes? And what if they added that they’re going to have triple the risk of autism, five times more likely to have sleep disorders in their lifetime and double the chance of speech disorders, and three times the risk of multiple sclerosis. That’s just for the hepatitis B vaccine.
Derek then discussed the CDC’s coverup of the link of the MMR vaccine to autism:
As for the MMR vaccine, we all know about the links to autism where the CDC whistleblower William Thompson said the government knows that it increases autism risk by 3.64 times. But they buried the study. The COVID-19 vaccines: over 36,000 deaths, when we recall peanut butter if it causes two deaths. How can we look ourselves in the mirror and say we’re doing the right thing without recalling the COVID-19 vaccine?
As he did during the public comment period at the previous day’s Board of Health (BOH) meeting, ICWA Director Bob Runnells again brought up the Cleveland Clinic study that found a 26.9% negative efficacy for the influenza vaccine during the 2024–2025 respiratory viral season.
Negative efficacy for 2024-25 flu shot. Never very efficacious, the flu shot this season looks to be extremely bad. Something may be terminally wrong with the flu vaccine program.
Bob noted that at the beginning of the study timeframe, there wasn’t much difference between vaccinated and unvaccinated (which means zero effectiveness). But over time, the vaccinated were getting the flu almost 27 percent more than the unvaccinated. “This flies in the face of the Department of Health website, which states that the best way to prevent the flu is to get the vaccine for the flu,” he told the VAC members.
Perhaps the Cleveland Clinic Study explains the increase in Washington cases for the 2024-2025 flu season versus last year.
During the Department of Health’s update, Dr. Jamilia Sherls illustrated this increase with the following graph during her immunization presentation:
The darker green line for this season shows a higher peak of influenza-like illness (ILI) hospitalizations and diagnoses than for 2023-24, but lower than for 2022-23. So what was the good doctor’s recommendation following Bob’s public comment? “We are encouraging people out there to get vaccinated,” she announced. She then discussed the DOH’s Flu Free Washington program launched in 2023 and that the department was continuing with new messaging based on 214 survey respondents in which almost half did not receive the flu vaccine this season. The respondents preferred messaging that emphasized higher rates of hospitalization from the flu.
Dr. Sherls also said that recommendations of strains are nearly the same for next year’s flu vaccine as they were for this year. (Good thing, right?) She explained using the following slide of vaccine composition.
Earlier, during public comments, Bob mentioned alternatives to the negative-efficacy flu vaccine, notably nasal flushing with saline solutions, xylitol and other traditional anti-viral/anti-bacterial compounds on ICWA’s Healthy Immunity website and End Flu Universally (EFU) Challenge, DOH Chief Medical Director Tao Kwan-Gett looked around and seemed to be giggling: probably not because of how EFU sounded, but to spite the low-risk solutions being suggested.
Bob concluded as time wound down, “This study should serve as a warning. Something must be desperately wrong if these vaccines have such negative efficacy.”
For the final public comment, Be Brave Washington leader Natalie Chavez drilled Kwan-Gett for his ignorant lie at the previous day’s BOH meeting in which he said the following:
Measles activity continues to increase nationally and globally. Of course, we are closely following the Gaines County, Texas, outbreak, which has spread to eighteen additional counties in Texas as well as two surrounding states. Texas has reported nearly 500 cases, mostly centered around the Mennonite community. There are fifty-six hospitalizations and two deaths, both in children.
As soon as Kwan-Gett said, “two deaths, both in children,” the board members gasped.
But Natalie was exasperated by this, as reflected in her testimony:
It was disturbing to hear the measles update at the Board of Health meeting, and I will focus on the two deaths from measles that were mentioned. I found the information shared very offensive and disrespectful. Nobody should be discussing the deaths of children unless they have thoroughly reviewed the records.
Natalie went on to say that four doctors looked over those medical records.
Both of those deaths occurred at the same Covenant Children’s Hospital in Lubbock, Texas. The first death was not directly due to a measles infection, from which the child was almost fully recovered, but because of the hospital’s failure to identify the correct antibiotic in a timely fashion, coupled with a nine-hour delay once the correct antibiotic was identified.
As for the second death, Dr. Pierre Kory, who has extensive experience in pulmonary and critical care medicine, told The Defender that the child’s medical records showed she died from “ARDS secondary to hospital-acquired pneumonia,” which he said she likely developed during a previous hospital stay.
Dr. Kory added the following:
The causative organism was a highly antibiotic-resistant E. coli (‘superbug’), which she contracted during the first hospital ICU [intensive care unit] stay.
This went largely unrecognized and poorly treated during the second hospital stay because they began to ‘tunnel in’ by blaming measles for her worsening pneumonia and repeatedly writing in the chart that she was unvaccinated.
Of the eight days she spent in the second hospital [visit], the child was given antibiotics for only four days. Not until two days before her death did the thought of a ‘possible hospital-acquired infection’ creep into the records. The bug was utterly resistant to the antibiotics they put her on.
“Please stop spreading disinformation about the deaths of the two children,” Natalie concluded. “Both deaths were not from measles, so please show some respect.”
WVA Meets Twice, Ignores Flu Vax Problem, Admits to Unknown Funding Losses
ICWA members attended two meetings of the Washington Vaccine Association (WVA) on Thursday April 17. As if there aren’t enough state employees shuffling vaccines around the state, this lesser-known, quasi-governmental group first convened as a Vaccine Committee and then as a Board of Directors.
During the Vaccine Committee meeting, the dogmatic Ed Marcuse chaired the first meeting and fielded public comments. ICWA Director Bob Runnells was the only commenter, having signed up well in advance, where he again brought up the Cleveland Clinic study of the 2024-25 flu vaccine to rub it in their noses – just to make sure this other pro-vaccine group knew about it. After he explained the 26.7% negative efficacy, Dr. Marcuse, former ACIP and VRBPAC advisor, said “I’ll look forward to seeing that study in a peer reviewed journal at some point.”
What is he waiting for? It’s not like the study was done on a couple hundred random pedestrians in New York City - it was done on 53,402 employees in a very reputable hospital system. They do these studies all the time. Maybe the data shows a change of 5 or 10% - it’s still going to be negative efficacy!
Of note during the Vaccine Committee meeting, the highly-paid Executive Director of the WVA, Julia Zell, spent quite a long time explaining an unknown breakdown in their ability to recover funds from insurance companies for the vaccines they help purchase. This Vaccine Assessment Loss (VAL) has grown to nearly $40 million in the last year, bringing into question the viability of the association and its ability to deliver cost savings to providers.
During the Board of Directors meeting, Jamilia Sherls of the DOH gave an update that HB 1531 was passed by the legislature “which is wonderful! … which basically allows us to be public health practitioners.” We at ICWA are unsure how the DOH, with their $1.2 billion dollar annual budget, could be prevented from doing whatever they wanted.
Hepatitis B Vaccine Adverse Reactions in Washington
Last week, The Defender reported a mother and her teenage daughter were suing a New York school district for denying the teen a medical exemption for the third hepatitis B shot after seven different doctors and medical practitioners said the teen shouldn’t get the vaccine due to her serious medical conditions. Children’s Health Defense is funding the suit.
Even a walk-in clinic at a pharmacy refused to vaccinate 16-year-old “Sarah Doe” because of her obviously compromised health when the teen tried to get vaccinated on her own, and against medical advice, so she could return to school.
Sarah and her mother, “Jane Doe,” allege that in addition to denying the 16-year-old reasonable accommodation, school officials have harassed, humiliated and harmed her. The normally happy and resilient girl is now so depressed she spends most of the day in bed and is falling behind in school.
A search on www.medalerts.org leads to a link for researching the adverse events for the hepatitis B vaccine and in turn shows why parents should be concerned about allowing their kids to receive these shots.
The results from the above entry show 77,771 adverse reactions following the hepatitis B shot in which 1,148 of those events resulted in death, and 748 of those deaths were to those under six months of age.
The results from the above entry also show 1,558 adverse reactions following the hepatitis B shot here in Washington.
Twenty of these cases following the hepatitis B shots here in Washington have died.
To compare to the female teenager in New York, Washington has had two deaths of teenagers following the hepatitis B shots:
VAERS ID: 56638. The twelve-year-old male died two days after taking the Hepatitis B shot on August 20, 1993 at the same time as taking the MMR shot. The report lists the following preexisting conditions: “severe retardation (encephalopathy) w/Lennox-Gastaut sz disorder.” The submitted write-up is as follows: deep sleep/unconscious, t102.8, admitted to hospital; cerebral edema, papilledema/infarctions, brain death/cardio resp failure.
VAERS ID: 118587. This fourteen-year-old female’s onset began 273 days after taking the Hepatitis B shot on March 17, 1997. She took no other shot at that time. The only preexisting condition was an allergy to Sulfa. Submitted write-up: Pt recv vax on 3/17/97; on 12/15/97 pt exp decreased appetite, dx=hepatocellular carcinoma; tx=system chemotherapy, chemo-embolizations, liver transplant- 8/98; lung metastases; Annual follow-up dated 10/9/00 states that the pt died on 6/18/00. She experienced spine metastases. She suffered kidney failure. The cancer also returned to her new liver and she died at the age of 17 1/2.
Perhaps most alarming are the thirteen deaths under six months of age. Below are writeups of the eighteen reports on those under one year of age who perished.
VAERS ID: 80138. Listed as a 0.2 old male. Submitted write-up: Patient came into hospital ER the morning of 01DEC95 DOA; probable SIDS; autopsy performed 1DEC95
VAERS ID: 91557. Listed as a 0.1 female. Submitted write-up: pt was given vax @ approx 1PM & died @ approx 8PM:pt went into coma in afternoon & was rushed to hospital.
VAERS ID: 100174. Listed as a 0.2 female: Submitted write-up: death 11FEB97 6PM;autopsy result SIDS: autopsy report given pathological dx SIDS w/intrathoracic visceral petechiae, visceral congestion & minute foci of early bronchopenumonia;
VAERS ID: 114917. Listed as a 0.1 female. Submitted write-up: pt recv vax 16SEP97 - SIDS on 21SEP97;parents requested VAERS on 22SEP98-1yr anniversary of pt death;
VAERS ID: 118636. Listed as 0.17 male. Submitted write-up: pt started getting a fever @ 1PM the same day as vax;pt had swelling @ the site of DTP as well as soreness;pt was very cranky & was sore for 3 days following vax;3rd day pt died;
VAERS ID: 197618. Listed as a 0.3 male. Submitted write-up: A nurse reported that a male infant received a dose of Prevnar along with DTaP, IPOL and hep B vaccines on 9/5/02 at 4 months of age. On 9/26/02 at 5 months of age, the infant died. SIDS was the reported cause of death. No further info was available at the date of this report. This report of a serious, labeled event is being submitted in a 15-day time frame as requested. Info regarding this event has been forwarded to manufacturer of IPOL vaccine. From initial information received at manufacturer on 03/03/2003 from another manufacturer regarding an event that happened in the U.S. concerning a 4-month-old male patient who received IPOL on 02/05/2002. The lot number and site/route for the vaccination was not reported. The patient died on 09/26/2002 from SUDDEN INFANT DEATH SYNDROME. From additional information received at manufacturer on 04/24/2003, it was reported that the patient also received Prevnar, DTaP and Hepatitis B Vaccine on 09/05/2002. The manufacturer, lot number and route/site were all not reported for Hepatitis B Vaccine and DTaP. Prevnar was given intra-muscular. Autopsy results showed Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (LLT, SIDS) as reported cause of death. From additional information received on 05/13/2003 from manufacturer, it was reported that their manufacturer number be added to WAES 0305USA00241.
VAERS ID: 199646. Listed as a 0.6 male. Submitted write-up: Patient previously healthy. Six days after 6 mo WCC and vaccines x 3 (hep B, DTaP, HIB), patient presented with vomiting and jaundice. Transferred to hospital on 12/20/02. Developed fulminant liver failure of unknown etiology and died 1/22/03. Principal diagnosis: idiopathic liver failure. Secondary diagnoses: hypoglycemia. Coagulopathy. Citrobacter freundii bacteremia and line infection. Multiorgan system failure.
VAERS ID: 206350. The listed 0.17 males died two days after taking a second Merck Hepatitis B shot as part of six shots. The only thing said in the submitted write-up was, “Coroner ruled SIDS.”
VAERS ID: 265462. Listed as a 0.13 female. Submitted write-up: After administering vaccines child became very fussy and over tired, would not wake to eat and passed away a little over a day later. Autopsy could not say that vaccines did not play role in death.
VAERS ID: 335226. Listed as 0.3 female. Mother’s account as part of the long submitted write-up: I would like some help to find out if my daughter’s death was caused by a Vaccine Induced Reaction. This all started on November 13 2008. This is the day the I took my daughter to the clinic. She was supposed to be seen for her 2 month well child exam which she was not. The primary doctor had only seen her once and this was on her 2 week well child exam. When we went in for her 2 month checkup we had seen a nurse practitioner. The doctor never came into see her not even once on this day nor did the nurse weigh her do any of the measurements of check to make sure that everything was growing normally. She had me sign for 2 vaccines when after all this i found out that she was given for 2 that i didn’t know about. We were sent home right after the vaccines were given and told to come back in 4 weeks for more and to expect drowsiness, fussiness, low appetite, not sleeping, irritability, that’s what had happened Thursday night. She slept most that afternoon and evening with very little to eat. Friday morning she was a little fussier then usual. Later on into the day we had noticed her to be warm to the touch but i had checked and it was normal a few more hours into the night. She developed a fairly high pitched cry and it seemed like she had a belly ache but yet eating very much. She was up about every 30 min during that Friday night and she usually was a really good sleeper through the night. On Saturday morning, I had gotten up to feed her I made a 6 oz bottle she still had about 2 oz left. When she was finished I burped her changed her she was still really fussy so i laid her down on a u shaped pillow and put her on her belly and i laid down beside her and patted her on her bottom and I fell back asleep next to her and was woke up by her father that had just gotten out of bed and told me to make sure the baby is breathing. I grabbed her and her body was limp but still warm to touch. I held her close to my body and ran across the street to the police station where the ambulance had responded and took us to the hospital. They were able to resuscitate her but she could not breath on her own nor did she have any brain function. They then air lifted us to the hospital. After being there for 24 hours the doctor had told us that our baby was not going to live and they see retinal hemorrhaging in the back of the eyes and the only 2 ways were a car wreck or some body had to of shaken her. Well, I know that that is not what happened and i have research about these vaccines and all the signs start the day she was vaccinated. Thank you for your time.
VAERS ID: 356473. Listed as a 0.7 female. She had taken three doses each of the Hepatitis B (Engerix-B), Pentacel, and Prevnar vaccines. Submitted write-up: Death. 9/11/09 Autopsy received DOD 07/09/2009. Sudden Unexplained Death in Infancy (SUIDI or SIDS). The manner of death is natural. Additional information abstracted: Infant was found dead in crib, positioned supine. No evidence of injury.
VAERS ID: 362090. Listed as a 0.17 female with the write-up only saying “Infant was found dead.” The data sheet shows that the death occurred after taking the vaccine on October 14, 2009.
VAERS ID: 402744. Listed as a 0.18 male. Submitted write-up: Per police report, pt was found deceased in parents bed, in prone position. Vaccines were given 4 days prior to death. No complications occurred in the Doctor’s office on that day.
VAERS ID: 456170. Listed as a 0.82 female. The death occurred one day after taking a third dose of the Hepatitis B vaccine (Engerix-B) on May 9, 2012.
VAERS ID: 744185. Listed as 0.0 male. Submitted write-up: Extreme congestion (runny nose, etc) starting about a week after birth/vaccination and up until his death on 10/28/17. The only vaccine listed on the data sheet is the Engerix-B shot for Hepatitis B.
VAERS ID: 779618. Listed as a 0.17 female. Submitted write-up: Child found unresponsive at 0450 am on 9/26/18 and EMS called immediately. CPR was initiated. Child was last seen breathing at midnight. Child taken to the emergency department at hospital. Child pronounced dead at 5:44 am.
VAERS ID: 959237. Submitted write-up [says it all]: My daughter was given 2 vaccines in her first 24 hours of life. We were released from the hospital at hour 28 of life, and she died at home at hour 39, due to "unknown causes" which they later diagnosed as SUIDS.
DOH Markets Measles Vax for Immunization Week
Once again, the Washington Department of Health (DOH) is carrying out the dirty work of marketing vaccine products for Big Pharma. Actually, it’s part of a nationwide campaign called “National Infant Immunization Week.” And we’re stuck right in the middle of it: April 21 through April 28.
The DOH’s Power of Providers program clearly shows that it is more than willing to carry out this marketing campaign with the following:
Dear Valued Health Care Partners,
Now is a great time to promote immunizations. April 21 to 28 is National Infant Immunization Week, and World Immunization Week follows, from April 24 to 30. Here are some resources from the Department of Health (DOH) to support your efforts to protect Washingtonians from vaccine preventable diseases.
The DOH has even gone so low as to provide a Hollywood theme by playing off the movie Back to the Future:
That’s your tax dollars hard at work. Of course, any marketing campaign needs a hook. This time, it’s the fear of measles.
The DOH states:
In 2025, no parent should have to worry about their baby facing diseases like measles, rubella, diphtheria, or other illnesses we now have the power to prevent. But the ongoing measles outbreaks facing our nation today remind us that the progress we've made is fragile — and it's up to all of us to protect it.
DOH’s Power of Providers (POP) Initiative does the same thing in its newsletter:
To address the current measles situation and support prevention of an outbreak in our state, DOH has some new resources to help local health jurisdictions, Tribal health partners, and health care professionals protect their communities.
As expected, the DOH’s recommendation of protection from its Hollywood boogie man is the vaccine. The DOH newsletter illustrates this:
We highlight the importance of protecting children two years and younger from vaccine-preventable diseases and recommend that children stay on track with their well-child appointments and routine vaccinations.
Its POP program goes further by showing ways for its healthcare providers to convince patients to take the jabs:
The department's comprehensive Measles Communications Toolkit (PDF) has key messages and talking points, social media materials, videos, and other health promotion resources to help you effectively communicate about measles, address misinformation, and promote vaccine confidence.
This toolkit is an elaborate sixteen-page booklet: Measles Communications Toolkit for WA State Partners
The toolkit has this slick stuff under its “Empowering Effective Communication” heading:
By providing a centralized resource, we aim to:
Address measles misinformation and promote vaccine confidence.
Foster a culture of vaccine safety and community well-being.
Ensure consistency in communications, driving effective health promotion and education. Together, let's promote immunization awareness and strengthen community health!
Below is the toolkit’s “talking points” for measles information:
Measles is a highly contagious virus which can cause serious illness.
Symptoms of measles include fever, cough, runny nose, and red, watery eyes. A full-body rash typically develops on the head or face and spreads down the body.
People infected with measles can spread the virus by coughing or sneezing. The virus may remain in the air for two hours after an infected person has left.
People with measles are contagious for up to four days before their rash even begins, making it easy to spread before you realize you have measles.
People who have been exposed to measles may become ill between seven and 21 days after the exposure.
The only treatment for a measles infection once it occurs is over the counter (OTC) products for symptom relief.
Unvaccinated infants, young children, pregnant people, and those who are immunocompromised are at highest risk of severe measles complications, which can include pneumonia, encephalitis, brain damage, pregnancy complications and even death.
The MMR vaccine is the strongest protection against measles. Two doses of measles containing vaccine are approximately 97% effective at preventing measles.
We’re struck by the irony and boldness of the choice to have special vaccination promotions during Autism Awareness Month, given the uncountable parent testimony of how their child regressed into autism after a well-child visit to their pediatrician.
For those faithful enough to read this far - some irony via memes. Share a link in the comments to your favorite meme these days.
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Does our state have more vaccine advisory / boards of sick care than other states? Thanks to all who speak up at these meetings. Maybe at least one board member ponders the solid information brought up by those that make public comments.
Well written, thoroughly researched, and oh so timely! Thank you ICWA!