RICHMOND, Va. (WTVR) - A majority of Virginia voters would like to see a repeal of vaccinations for the human papillomavirus, or HPV, for girls. And a majority of the state's voters approve of the job our elected officials are doing. Those are some of the highlights of a Quinnipiac University poll just out Thursday morning.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, cervical cancer strikes about 12,000 women in the United States a year and kills around 4,000. Washington, D.C. and Virginia mandate the vaccine for middle-school girls, but parents can opt out their children with a doctor's note.
While the public health strategy to immunize against HPV which causes cervical cancer has powerful advocates in the health community, some are concerned the vaccine isn't necessary for girls who are so young and not yet sexually active.
Virginia voters 50 to 42 percent say the state should repeal the law requiring girls to be vaccinated against the HPV virus before entering the sixth grade. More women than men are opposed to the vaccinations according to the Quinnipiac University poll.
The same poll also shows republican Gov. Bob McDonnell is still one of the best-liked state executives in the country with a 58 percent approval rating. Just 24 percent don't think he's doing a good job.
While most Americans disapprove of the job congress is doing, Virginia democratic Senator Mark Warner has an even higher approval rating than Gov. McDonnell at 64 percent.
Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli has a 48 percent approval rating. Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling is at 38 percent. Both men have announced they want to be governor after McDonnell leaves office.
Peter Brown, Assistant Director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute says Virginia is the exception to the rule when it comes to voter satisfaction. "One of the things that the Quinnipiac University found in this poll is that every statewide elected official, the two senators, the state's Lt. Governor and the Attorney General, all have positive job approvals”, Brown told us over the phone. “And one thing I know is there are no other states in which Quinnipiac polls in where every state elected official has such high ratings."
There is more on this poll, including how voters feel about the proposal of welfare recipients being required to pass a drug test before they could collect a check. You can find it all at this website:
http://www.quinnipiac.edu/institutes-and-centers/polling-institute
