Like many other parents of children who are now teenagers (or thereabouts) we didn't have our DC's immunised with MMR as youngsters. With the current outbreak of measles in Wales, and also now they are older, we have reconsidered and decided to ask for the vax for them both. I phoned my GP surgery this morning to make an appt. for them. Receptionists initial response was ...
"Oh, I think it's too late now" 
- then after I said that I knew lots of teenagers were having the vax she said she'd get the nurse to phone me back. Lovely practice nurse did this shortly afterwards and I now have an appt. for them to have it in about a week's time.
Was a little shocked though by the receptionist's initial poorly informed and frankly somewhat judgemental response to my request.
This has also made me think of the pictures on the news of the long queues of parents and children in Wales now coming forward to have their vaccinations. The long queues make me wonder if the clinics couldn't perhaps be better resourced to cut down on these waiting times (which might put some people off coming forwards)?
If a catch-up programme had been initiated when outbreak began to develop in the autumn, and with perhaps more pro-active and better resourced programmes in clinics and even schools across the country would we have more chance of beating this outbreak before it spreads outside the Swansea and South Wales area ?
Is judgement of the decisions made by parents at the height of the MMR controversy holding practitioners and policy makers back from acting quickly and effectively in the best interests of children's health ?
I know that posting this in AIBU is a risky thing to do as some will surely say I am being unreasonable for not letting my DC's have the vax as young children, but I think the important thing is really looking at what we can all do now, especially to halt this recent measles outbreak.
All I will say in my OP in defence of my past actions is that I have only really understood about herd immunity and protecting the most vulnerable from reading threads on MN. And don't forget one of my recent actions - this morning - is to book them an appointment. 
AIBU?
To think the response to the measles outbreak in Wales has been too slow ?
JugglingFromHereToThere · 24/04/2013 10:55
'So why is she rich, and why did she get on mainstream TV?'
Because she's slim, plausible, a good communicator and sells an ideal that people find appealing. Ben Goldacre's response to her patter in his book 'Bad Science' did little to dissuade her following, as they really very weren't interested in facts.
It's not a new question, people have been buying materials to make them fitter, healthier, more sexually adept and less bald for centuries.
We had letters home from school before Christmas to inform us that measles cases were rising, and advising us to contact our GPs for the MMR if our children hadn't had both doses, so those of us in the local area were informed months ago. The main issue as far as I can see is that parents have buried their heads in the sand and thought that it wouldn't happen to them, and that measles isn't that bad - just a rash and a headache, right 
? And then children started being hospitalised in their local communities, and a man died, and then suddenly there's a mass panic. You are responsible for your children's vaccination status - it isn't anyone else's job to chase you.
You opted to leave your children unvaccinated and now everyone else is as fault for not asking 'how high?' when you say 'jump'? Unless you've got measles cases reported in your area I'm sure, having survived the last 10-12 years unscathed, a few more days or weeks won't present that much of a risk.
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