Jerry Brown signed the bill on Tuesday after it was passed by the state legislature, which strikes down personal belief exemptions for immunization and requires all school-age children to be vaccinated by kindergarten and then again by seventh grade.
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SB277 eliminates an exemption many parents have used to opt their children out of a few of all of the 10 required school vaccines, based on personal or religious beliefs. The best way to suppress an outbreak of any childhood disease for which there is a suitable vaccine, like measles, is to deny access to schools for children who are not vaccinated.
Mississippi and West Virginia are the two other states with similar vaccination requirements, as mentioned by Adam Nagourney of The New York Times.
Home-schooled children are exempt, and waivers are allowed when a child’s doctor advises against a vaccine for medical reasons.
In February, as the outbreak unfolded, measles-jab maker Merck ($MRK) said it could only do so much to encourage vaccinations, and that the task lies with the government and other advocacy groups.
The bill generated considerable public outcry against it with thousands of parents calling representatives and protesting at the Capitol and it was not clear Brown would sign it. According to the Marin Department of Health and Human Services Immunization Program, the number of exemptions more than doubled from 3.7 percent in 2002 to 7.8 percent in 2012.
Democratic state Senator Richard Pan, a Sacramento pediatrician, introduced the law after last December’s Disneyland outbreak was linked to low inoculation rates. Another change allows doctors to use a family’s medical history as an evaluating factor. Many said it infringes on parental rights and issues of informed consent.
“I don’t think it’s going to be as bad as some fear, ultimately we really made sure to strengthen the medical exemption so that anyone with a legitimate medical exemption and still send their kids to school”, he said.
SB 277 has occasioned widespread interest and controversy – with both proponents and opponents expressing their positions with eloquence and sincerity. If signed into law, it will require parents to immunize children entering school or day-care.
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“Our success here in California can only be followed up by people willing to be bold and willing to take on the opposition toe-to-toe on the facts, on the science and not waiver”, Dr. Pan said.
