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Seattle media outlets are misleading you on declining vaccination rates among K-12 students in Washington. Whether it’s a result of their bias or unintentionally disinterested journalism, it doesn’t matter because the end result is the same: you’re not getting the full picture.

and splashed headlines about vaccination rates 鈥渄ropping again,鈥� and kindergarten vaccines 鈥渇alling,鈥� as if Washington suddenly turned into an anti-vax bunker. In The Seattle Times, Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy, Jr is implicitly blamed for the dip, noting it “coincides with growing anti-vaccine sentiment throughout the country.” Fox 13 tells viewers that kindergarten vaccination 鈥渇ell more than 4% compared to the 2020鈥�2021 school year,鈥� implying it’s to blame for a small number of local measles cases.聽

But what neither highlight: they鈥檙e comparing today鈥檚 numbers to a COVID-era peak 鈥� an artificial high point created by extraordinary mandates and compliance pushes, plus fear 鈥� not to the normal, pre-pandemic baseline. By that measure, statewide vaccination is still higher than normal, which makes the 鈥渄own鈥� framing misleading at best and manipulative at worst.

Vaccination rates are hardly ‘down’ the way Seattle media claims

Vaccination rates are not 鈥渄own鈥� in the traditional sense. We鈥檙e headed back to normal. This is exactly where vaccination rates were before COVID hysteria artificially inflated the numbers. Pretending otherwise is a classic case of cherry-picking data to fit a preferred narrative.

The Washington Department of Health鈥檚 own shows the K-12 鈥渃omplete鈥� vaccination rate for 2024-25 is about 89%. That鈥檚 slightly lower than the pandemic highs, but perfectly in line with the historical averages before COVID. Yet, The Seattle Times and Fox 13 would rather have you believe this is some shocking decline. They鈥檙e comparing today鈥檚 numbers to those pandemic-driven anomalies and framing it as proof of a public health crisis. That鈥檚 not honest reporting. That鈥檚 manipulation to serve a narrative.

Seattle media, intentionally or not, want to tie this entirely predictable return to normal levels to their favorite political bogeymen: MAGA conservatives and religious Washingtonians. If you read between the lines of these stories, you鈥檒l notice the loaded language and the not-so-subtle finger-pointing. They highlight 鈥減ersonal鈥� and 鈥渞eligious鈥� exemptions as if those exercising their rights are dangerous villains threatening public health. It鈥檚 the same divisive tactic we saw throughout the pandemic: demonize certain groups to advance an agenda.

It’s also about trust

It’s possible that the vaccination rates would have stayed artificially high and become the new normal. But Seattle media and the left-wing lawmakers they carry water for ruined the trust many had in public health officials.

Seattle media contributed to the trust deficit during COVID. It’s likely the main reasons parents aren鈥檛 blindly complying with every vaccine recommendation like they did from 2020-2022. The constant lies about school closures, mask mandates, and vaccine efficacy eroded public trust in public health officials and the media that parroted their talking points. Parents remember being told the COVID vaccine would stop transmission 鈥� a claim they knew wasn鈥檛 true. They remember government bureaucrats pretending children were at high risk for COVID complications when the data showed the complete opposite.

Is it any wonder that some parents are taking a step back and re-evaluating their choices? That doesn鈥檛 make them 鈥渁nti-vaxxers,鈥� despite what some want you to believe. It makes them rational human beings who no longer take the media or public health establishment at their word.

Just read the data

The Seattle Times and Fox 13 are banking on the fact that most readers won鈥檛 actually dig into the Department of Health鈥檚 data. They鈥檙e betting you鈥檒l see their scary headline and blame the people they want you to blame.

But the truth is boring and inconvenient: vaccination rates are stable and almost identical to what they were in 2016, 2017, and 2018. The only real change is that we鈥檙e no longer living under the shadow of COVID-era coercion.聽If the media truly cared about public health, they would focus on restoring trust, not misinterpreting the data to target the Trump administration. But that would require introspection.

Washington鈥檚 vaccination rates aren鈥檛 collapsing. What we are witnessing is the media exploiting data for cheap political points. And every time they do it, they make it harder for the public to trust them.

Listen to The Jason Rantz Show on weekday afternoons from 3 p.m. 鈥� 7 p.m. on KTTH 770 AM (HD Radio 97.3 FM HD-Channel 3). Subscribe to the聽podcast here. Follow Jason Rantz on聽,听,听, and聽.