GRANDMA GREEN SAYS: Responsible parents vaccinate their children

A while ago I had watched the Senate hearings involving Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. I was impressed by how bipartisan the questioning was. It certainly was an eye-opener.

In 1952, at the height of the polio epidemic, nearly 58,000 people were hit by polio. The 2024 census has Moses Lake’s population at 26,969, so double that plus 5,000 more and you would have about 58,000. Of those 58,000, 3,145 died and 21,269 were left permanently stricken. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, our 32nd president, was one of those stricken, having to use leg braces enabling him to walk.

A young virologist in 1948, Jonas Salk had begun his research to find a vaccine for polio. In the spring of 1955, Jonas Salk’s vaccine was declared safe and effective. As Roentgen did with his X-ray, Salk refused to patent his discovery, allowing it to be widely and quickly distributed. By 1957, 100 million doses had been distributed. The global fight against polio would be won.

I remember lining up in grade school and marching to the cafeteria to get my polio shot. I had no idea why, but my mother had the wisdom to listen to the doctors, trusting their knowledge and respecting the years of work done by the scientists who have made our work safer for all.

I had a friend in junior high school named Bill. He had contracted polio when he was a little boy. He basically had no use of his legs but was able to get around with the aid of leg braces. Oh, and those metal hand canes, getting new ones as he grew.

Now in 2026, do most people know what an iron lung is for? Or even have an idea what polio is/was? I think not. Thank you, Jonas Salk.

Think of this scenario: Imagine you have a neighbor who is consistently trying to give you medical advice although he has absolutely no education in the medical field. Even his family had disavowed him. But he still has the audacity to continue to tell you about your diet, exercise, medicines, et cetera and telling you not to have your children vaccinated. Would you take this neighbor’s uneducated advice?

I’ve been hearing a lot on the news lately about major measles outbreaks, the first in years. These happened because kids, people, were not vaccinated.

Being a mom, grandma and great-grandma, there is one thing that puzzles me: why would a responsible adult choose not to vaccinate their child? The unvaccinated child is the one who will suffer and be sick, not the so-called responsible adult. Because maybe that responsible adult’s family had the intelligence to listen to their doctors years ago.

Would you be able to name all the diseases that have been eradicated by these wonderful scientists?

I have been given permission to write my own opinion on whatever. I know my kids think I’m a little stubborn and somewhat opinionated. I know I’m not the only one who has thoughts about things, so I urge you to write yours to the editor.

Joan "Grandma" Green is a regular contributing columnist for the Columbia Basin Herald. She has been a Moses Lake resident for more than 50 years.