California Lawmakers Advance Bill Requiring Vaccinations Among School Children

California lawmakers have advanced a bill that would require school children in the state to be vaccinated despite the pleas of both parents and doctors. 

Under the new law, parents would no longer be able to send their children to school with waivers citing religious or personal beliefs and exemptions would only be made available to children with health problems. 

Who Supports this Vaccination Law?

Supporters of the law say that it would increase the number of vaccinated young people and improve public health. Some parents believe a plan like this could have prevented their children from contracting measles at Disneyland.

Others say vaccines can be as dangerous as the diseases they aim to fight and that the bill would trample parental rights

Vaccine Mandate for Schoolchildren

This new measure is in the earliest stages of the legislative process but already drew large crowds, including parents who brought their children. Parents were upset - one parent threatening to put a curse on lawmakers who voted for the bill and another had to be removed after an outburst.

Future of Vaccinations

If the bill passes the State Legislature and is signed by the governor, California would become the 3rd state along with Mississippi and West Virginia with such strict vaccination requirements. Dr. Dean Blumberg, a pediatrician who testified on behalf of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the California Medical Association, said childhood vaccination has been so successful that it's easy to overstate their risks and dismiss the diseases they prevention.

Public health officials believe an immunization rate of at least 90% is crucial to minimize a potential disease outbreak. This year, California kindergarten children met that threshold with 2% exempt because of parent's belief and another half a percent exempt due to religion.

Samadi's Take on Vaccines

Unfortunately, there's a lot of misinformation about vaccine safety and effectiveness. No scientific controversy about vaccine safety and vaccine effectiveness and vaccines linked with autism have been disproven. This is not open to dispute among mainstream doctors and scientists.