AUGUSTA (AP) — Some lawmakers plan to renew efforts to increase the percentage of Maine children who are being inoculated against measles, whooping cough and other diseases.
Democratic Rep. Anne Graham of North Yarmouth, who’s a pediatric nurse practitioner, said a story in the Maine Sunday Telegram about the state’s high opt-out rate motivated her to find a solution.
Maine now has one of the highest kindergarten vaccination opt-out rates in the nation, at 3.9 percent.
Graham told the newspaper that her work is an uphill battle. A modest bill by Graham that would have simply required schools to hand out pro-vaccination literature to parents failed last year.
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