Letter to Editor | Grandparents for vaccines

||| FROM DALE HEISINGER |||

I am a grandparent of five grandchildren and a retired pediatrician and, as expected, I advised my two sons to get their children vaccinated, which they did. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children should receive 12 vaccinations by age 6 protecting them against 16 preventable infectious diseases, including measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR). MMR was released for use in 1971 and two doses provide 97% protection.

When 95% of children are vaccinated, the risk of spreading measles is non-existent. However, with declining vaccination rates nationwide and in Washington state, there is now an increase in measles cases throughout the US. In 2000, measles was declared eliminated in the this country, but as of 2/18/2026, there have been 1004 confirmed cases reported in 24 states, with 30 children being hospitalized. Most of these cases have been in unvaccinated children.

When I was growing up in California, I remember occasionally seeing QUARANTINE signs posted on doors in my neighborhood and when I asked my parents what that meant, they told me that someone in the house either had a contagious disease or was exposed to someone that did. We learned that there was one classmate who had polio, which was a disease that was greatly feared by every parent. I don’t recall this child’s outcome, however I never saw him in school again.

Public health surveillance no longer posts signs but it does monitor infectious diseases, a fail-safe and necessary service designed to protect us. However, the greatest protection comes from vaccinations.

Troubled by the increase in vaccine hesitancy and misinformation circulating the internet, grandparents, including myself, are taking action. Grandparents for Vaccines, a new organization, launched in September 2025 to encourage grandparents and allies of children to tell their stories about their early experiences, both lived and observed, to inform others how infectious diseases impacted our lives before preventive vaccinations were available. As trusted messengers our goal is to make the importance of vaccination personal, credible and emotionally real. At its core, the purpose isn’t to win arguments, rather it is to protect all grandchildren by reminding communities what is at stake and what vaccines have already spared us from. For more information, including how to join, visit Grandparentsforvaccines.org