KS town changes attitude on vaccines

Sixty-four years ago, residents of this tiny town in southwestern Kansas set a public health example. They made their town the first in the nation to be fully inoculated against polio. It's a different story today.

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January 12, 2021 - 9:37 AM

PROTECTION, Kansas — Sixty-four years ago, residents of this tiny town in southwestern Kansas set a public health example. They made their town the first in the nation to be fully inoculated against polio.

It’s a different story today.

People in Protection, like those in many rural communities, stand divided over how to slow the spread of the coronavirus and the safety of the vaccines being rolled out to protect them from it.

“A lot of people still believe it (COVID-19) is made up and that it’s not as bad as the media is saying,” said Steve Herd, a 72-year-old farmer who was in the third grade on the day virtually every resident of Protection under 40 got a polio shot.

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