During a Thursday rally, advocates spoke about the necessity of vaccinations for the Kansas public. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
TOPEKA — Two Kansas Republican lawmakers joined a Democratic colleague Thursday to stress the safety and necessity of vaccines, in an attempt to stave off misinformation in the Statehouse.
Rep. Melissa Oropeza, D-Kansas City, Rep. John Eplee, R-Atchison, and Sen. Kristen O’Shea, R-Topeka, teamed up with the Immunize Kansas Coalition at a Statehouse rally, standing at a podium surrounded by signs on rubella, measles and and other vaccine-preventable diseases.
“Leave the status quo alone, it has worked well and it has served us well for 50 years,” Eplee, a physician, said. “We just need to send a message to all our colleagues both in the House and Senate to keep their mitts of the statutes, because they’re working.”
Kansas vaccine requirements are controlled at the state level. Despite false claims made by an anti-vaccination movement in recent years, COVID-19 vaccines and other vaccines have been repeatedly proven safe and effective. Vaccine r equirements in Kansas for children attending school include shots for polio, hepatitis A and B, measles, mumps and rubella, among others.