California passed a new vaccine law, SB 277, in 2015.
Most states, including California, already had vaccine mandates though. The difference now is that in California, you need a medical exception to attend school if your kids aren’t vaccinated.
With the passage of SB 277, California joined Mississippi and West Virginia as the only states that do not allow either religious or personal belief vaccine exemptions.
They still aren’t forcing anyone to get vaccinated though.
“The term mandate is somewhat misleading, because there are exceptions — always on medical grounds, frequently on religious grounds, and sometimes on philosophical grounds. Moreover, the thrust of mandates is not to forcibly require vaccination but to predicate eligibility for a service or benefit on adherence to the recommended immunization schedule of vaccination. ”
Y. Tony Yang on Linking Immunization Status and Eligibility for Welfare and Benefits Payments
And in some countries that already have mandates, they aren’t even doing a very good job of making sure that kids even get vaccinated. Many people will be surprised to learn that 14 European countries already mandate one or more vaccines, typically DTP, polio, and MMR.
What’s New in Vaccine Laws
Internationally, the idea of vaccine mandates is a big issue as we continue to see outbreaks of measles in Europe and other areas of the world.
“Parents who vaccinate their children should have confidence that they can take their children to child care without the fear that their children will be at risk of contracting a serious or potentially life-threatening illness because of the conscientious objections of others. ”
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott on “No Jab No Pay”
Unlike the Disneyland outbreak in California, the outbreaks in Europe are on a much bigger scale.
And with more cases we see what everyone fears – more deaths.
That’s why we are finally seeing new vaccine laws, including some that mandate vaccines in some other countries, including:
- Australia – the Australian government began a “No Jab No Pay” plan in 2016 that removed the conscientious objector exemption on children’s vaccination for access to taxpayer funded Child Care Benefits, the Child Care Rebate and the Family Tax Benefit Part A end of year supplement.
- Estonia – A proposal was put before the Estonian Parliament, the Riigikogu, to make immunizations compulsory.
- Germany – a new law, if approved (it has already passed the Bundestag or national parliament), will require parents to have a medical consultation before deciding to delay or skip vaccines or they can be fined up to $2,800. Even with the law, in Germany, “vaccinations remain voluntary. But some politicians have suggested that mandatory vaccination is on the way if concerted efforts to encourage vaccinations don’t work.”
- Italy – the Italian Parliament has given final approval to the Decree-Law Containing Urgent Measures on the Compulsory Vaccination of Children, which makes vaccinations against 12 diseases mandatory for children as a condition of school registration, for both private and public schools.
- France – is working to expand their list of mandated vaccines to now include protection against 11 diseases instead of just three (diphtheria, tetanus, and polio). All of these vaccines were previously recommended to attend school, but were only voluntary.
- Romania – a draft Vaccination Law could bring fines to parents who don’t vaccinate their kids and would keep them out of schools. Doctors could be fined too! The draft law is headed to Parliament for debate.
Again, none of these laws mean that anyone is being forced to vaccinate their kids.
Even in the case of vaccine mandates, they are simply requirements to attend daycare or school.
We are also seeing some new vaccine laws in the United States, including changes for the start of the 2017-2018 school year:
- Indiana – pharmacists can give more vaccines, any vaccine that the CDC recommends, either with a prescription or by protocol for kids over are at least 11 years old and adults
- Iowa – now requires a meningococcal vaccine for students entering 7th (one dose) and 12th (one or two doses) grades
- Nevada – now requires a meningococcal vaccine for students entering 7th grade (one dose) and college (a dose after age 16 years)
- Pennsylvania – unvaccinated students now only have a 5 day grace period at the start of the school year to get vaccinated (it used to be 8 months) before getting expelled from school.
It’s easy to navigate the new laws.
Get educated and get your kids vaccinated. Vaccines are safe, vaccines work, and vaccines are necessary.
What To Know About Vaccine Mandate Laws
Vaccine mandate laws are expanding as we are seeing more outbreaks of vaccine preventable diseases.
More Information on Vaccine Mandate Laws:
- Forced Vaccination vs Vaccine Choice
- School Exemption Laws by State
- Mandatory Vaccinations: Precedent and Current Laws
- Report – Mandatory vaccinations: The international landscape
- Study – Mandatory and recommended vaccination in the EU, Iceland and Norway: results of the VENICE 2010 survey on the ways of implementing national vaccination programmes
- Report – The Latest in Vaccine Policies: Selected Issues in School Vaccinations, Healthcare Worker Vaccinations, and Pharmacist Vaccination Authority Laws.
- Linking Immunization Status and Eligibility for Welfare and Benefits Payments
- Exemption Abuse – Too many kindergarteners aren’t getting vaccinated.
- The problem of nonmedical exemptions to school vaccine mandates
- Italy: Vaccinations for Children Made Mandatory
- ‘No Jab No Pay’ and other immunisation measures
- Parents who don’t vaccinate their kids could end up paying thousands in Germany
- France: Constitutional Court Confirms Legal Obligation to Vaccinate Children
- Indiana Immunization Administration by Pharmacists
- Iowa Immunization Requirements
- Nevada Immunization Requirements
- Pennsylvania 2017-2018 School Immunization Requirements
Updated August 20, 2017