In 2015, California passed a vaccine law that removed all non-medical exemptions to getting vaccinated.
What was the response?
More kids got vaccinated.
Are Parents Faking Their Child’s Vaccine Records?
Not all of them though.
Shortly after the passage of SB277 we quickly learned of one way that parents were trying to get around the law – fake vaccine exemptions.
That’s right. Some doctors were selling fake vaccine exemptions using bogus medical symptoms, histories, and conditions.
And apparently, now that fake vaccine exemptions are getting harder to come by, some parents are simply trying to fake their child’s immunization records.
While I doubt a lot of people are faking their records, some probably are.
Some have already been caught forging their child’s vaccine records because their intentionally unvaccinated kids (who were supposed to be vaccinated) were involved in outbreaks!
Are those really your only vaccine choices? What about opting to vaccinate and protect your child?
Some others were caught writing fake vaccine exemptions, using forms from one of the doctor’s who notoriously sells fake medical vaccine exemptions!
Have you heard about the No Jab, No Play / Pay laws in Australia?
Did Australia’s new vaccine laws prompt anti-vaccine folks to put up these billboards that eventually got vandalized?
Unlike the No Pass, No Play rules that we have in Texas, in which kids can’t participate in extracurricular activities unless they pass all of their classes, No Jab, No Play / Pay has to do with getting kids vaccinated.
As expected, Australia’s new vaccine laws have been a success.
On the national level, No Jab, No Pay has meant that children need to be fully immunized “as a requirement for parents to be eligible to receive the Family Tax Benefit Part A end of year supplement, Child Care Benefit and Child Care Rebate.”
Five-year-olds in Victoria are now better protected against diseases prevented by vaccination than in any other state in Australia, new data shows.
Victoria Leads The Nation When It Comes To Vaccination Rates
But it is only in New South Wales, Queensland, and Victoria that children need to be immunized to attend childcare – No Jab, No Play. Additionally, children need to be immunized to attend kindergarten in Queensland and Victoria.
An increase in vaccination rates, by 2 to 5%, has been seen nationwide though.
What about the idea that No Jab, No Play has lead to a drop in preschool enrollments?
KATHARINA GORKA, NON-VACCINATING PARENT: I don’t think it is fair, to be honest. It makes me feel like we are a bit excluded from society, yeah. PETER MCCUTCHEON: Did you ever think, “I’ll get my son vaccinated so I get around this pre-school problem”? KATHARINA GORKA: No, I never thought about that. PETER MCCUTCHEON: Why not? KATHARINA GORKA: Because I have a set opinion on vaccinations and that is not going to change.
Some pre-schools experience drop in enrolments over ‘no jab, no play’ policy
The law about attending daycare and kindergarten just came into effect in New South Wales, in 2018, but has been in effect since 2016 in Victoria.
We will have to wait a few more months for the 2018 numbers, but preschool enrollment in Victoria was way up after they instituted their strict vaccine requirements!
In Australia during 2017, 339,243 children aged 4 or 5 were enrolled in a preschool program, representing an increase of 2.6% on the previous year’s figure. The largest growth rates were in the Australian Capital Territory (6%) and Victoria (5%).
Australian Bureau of Statistics on Preschool Education, Australia, 2017
Maybe folks just don’t want to go to care centers that had been pandering to anti-vaccine parents…
Still, some vaccine advocates don’t think that No Jab, No Play / Pay laws are a good idea for Australia. Many also don’t think that it is a good idea that some Australian doctors are starting to refuse to see unvaccinated children, a practice that seems to have been exported from the United States.
Others don’t see alternatives, as they feel that they have been trying for a long time to educate parents that vaccines are safe and necessary, and this is one of the few ways that can reliably improve vaccination rates.
Larry Cook is either one of the movers and shakers of the modern anti-vaccine movement, with his Stop Mandatory Vaccine group, a ‘double agent’ who worked to oppose a vaccine law in California, while also lobbying for the law, or someone who other anti-vax folks claims “puts his own profit far ahead of our children.”
Who is Larry Cook?
Larry Cook says that he has devoted himself to natural living for over 25 years.
“I studied video production and photography at Clover Park Vocational-Technical Institute in Tacoma, Washington and I received my bachelor’s degree from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA.”
From developing natural living magazines and self-publishing a book about ADHD, he became the Executive Director of the California Naturopathic Doctors Association, a position he held for four years.
He resigned in 2016 to devote his time to “educating” folks about vaccines.
“Finally, I believe my mission is to educate as many parents and others as possible about the dangers of vaccination, the lack of efficacy of vaccination, and why natural immunity is superior to vaccination.”
He even has a GoFundMe page to support his mission…
A mission to take advantage of and profile parents who think that their kids have been vaccine injured? Who he thinks have been vaccine injured, even when the parents don’t.
How did he get started in his quest to save children from vaccines, which he believes are a “200 year old mistake?”
“In late March or early April, 2015, Mr. Cook started a GoFundMe campaign to produce short films, interviews with parents who felt their children had been damaged by vaccines, in order to share those stories with legislators and the general public to build opposition to SB277.”
ConspiraSea, SB277, Colin McRoberts, Larry Cook, and Me
Of course, SB277 passed, and Larry Cook soon left his job as Executive Director of the California Naturopathic Doctors Association, with a new career and salary from his GoFundMe donations.
Why are anti-vax folks always participating in and promoting “free” online summits? They never disclose that they are making money from them, but they usually are.
I guess his campaign went well, at least for him.
It turned into a full time job.
“A video I wish I didn’t have to make. When I started in this movement, I had no idea it would be as corrupt as pharma.
But I have had my eyes opened many times over…this video describes just one of many disappointments along the way: Larry Cook, who runs a popular page and group.
In the beginning, I believed what he told me and tried to look past the many odd comments and strange behaviors. But it ultimately became clear that he puts his own profit far ahead of our children.
That in and of itself wasn’t enough to motivate me to speak out and open myself up to the hundreds of attacks I would get, I kept hoping the truth would be exposed by someone else. And while some have tried, the past couple of weeks I have seen too much to stay silent any longer.”
Unfortunately, they aren’t critical of his extreme views, including that vaccines are “filled with poison” (they aren’t), are “unnecessary” (they are very necessary if you want to avoid life-threatening vaccine preventable diseases), don’t work (they do work), and that outbreaks are a “manufactured problem” (what???).
While there is a new Conscience and Religious Freedom Division in the HHS Office for Civil Rights, it doesn’t ban vaccinations.
And even with the announcement of a new Conscience and Religious Freedom Division in the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR), there is no ban on mandatory vaccinations across the United States.
“The creation of the new division will provide HHS with the focus it needs to more vigorously and effectively enforce existing laws protecting the rights of conscience and religious freedom, the first freedom protected in the Bill of Rights.”
HHS Announces New Conscience and Religious Freedom Division
Could you interpret this is laying the groundwork for allowing religious exemptions to vaccines?
Again, vaccine mandates are set by state law, so no, you shouldn’t. Anyway, almost all states already allow religious exemptions to getting vaccinated, even though no major religion is actually against vaccinating and protecting kids from life-threatening vaccine-preventable diseases.
“Conscience protections apply to health care providers who refuse to perform, accommodate, or assist with certain health care services on religious or moral grounds.”
Conscience Protections for Health Care Providers
A proposed rule, Protecting Statutory Conscience Rights in Health Care; Delegations of Authority, that might have affected vaccines funded by Federal medical assistance programs, never took effect. In fact, the White House urged HHS to not finalize the rule after the Office of Management and Budget said they weren’t complying with necessary rules to get it implemented on time.
“The AAP wishes to underscore its recognition of the important role of religion in the personal,spiritual, and social lives of many individuals, including health providers. Balancing that role with efforts to ensure children have appropriate access to needed health and social services is critical to meeting their health needs and supporting their health and well being. As HHS considers potential changes to regulations and policy guidance to encourage the provision of grants and contracts to faith-based organizations, we urge you to ensure that federal policy does not undermine children’s access to needed care and services.”
Collen Kraft, MD, FAAP, President of the American Academy of Pediatrics
Not surprisingly, major medical associations were against the proposed rule, and not just because of potential effects on vaccines, even though it wouldn’t have actually banned vaccines.
“The proposal would dramatically expand the discretion that religious or moral objectors have to refuse care without meaningful safeguards to ensure that the rights of those receiving care are protected.”
AMA on HHS should withdraw proposal on health care conscience rights
Sadly, as Kennedy and many anti-vaccine folks focus and what they think are toxins and poisons in vaccines, they seem to be ignoring the fact that Donald Trump is going to expose our kids to many more real toxins and poisons through his efforts to slash Clean Water Act protections and other EPA regulations.
Even as some schools and communities continue to face outbreaks of measles, chicken pox, and other vaccine-preventable diseases, there is a very good chance that your kids are in a school where you don’t have to worry about them getting sick.
There is also a good chance that you have no idea who made that possible.
Who was Betty Bumpers?
Sure, a lot of it has to do with all of the parents who are making the right choice in vaccinating and protecting their kids.
But there was a time when we had many vaccines and kids still weren’t getting protected.
“I don’t think that there is anything more important than immunizing our children and preventing unnecessary suffering. We’ve seen too much of that and it’s been so exciting now to see immunization rates going up. Betty Bumpers and I have worked on this for a long time, but Betty Bumpers is the real hero. She has done more for immunizations than any one person in this whole country.”
Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter
That changed in the early 1970s, when Betty Bumpers, as the First Lady of Arkansas, worked to raise immunization rates in her state, with the Every Child By ’74 campaign.
The Every Child in ’74 immunization program immunized over 300,000 children in Arkansas.
She didn’t stop in Arkansas though.
“I believe our program, based upon volunteers and government agencies already in pace, has been tremendously successful.”
Betty Bumpers
In 1975, she told a Senate subcommittee that her immunization program could serve as a model for other states too.
“Measles incidence declined dramatically after large vaccination campaigns, but transmission was not interrupted. The licensure of rubella vaccine in 1969 led to mass campaigns to immunize children to avert an anticipated repeat of the tragic epidemic of 1964–65, which resulted in the births of approximately 20,000 infants with congenital rubella syndrome. The rubella campaigns diverted attention and funding from measles, resulting in a resurgence of measles. Federal funding for Section 317 declined during the early to mid-1970s. Immunization coverage fell, and disease increased.”
Vaccine-Preventable Diseases, Immunizations, and MMWR — 1961–2011
A few years later, President Jimmy Carter announced the National Childhood Immunization Initiative of 1977, a program that was stimulated by the efforts of Betty Bumpers, with Rosalynn Carter.
In addition to increased spending on immunization programs, we soon had laws in every state requiring students to be vaccinated before they could attend school, and not surprisingly, measles cases quickly dropped.
It didn’t last.
The Role of Measles Elimination in Development of a National Immunization Program
In the year’s that followed the Carter administration, Federal support for vaccine programs reached a low point, as rates of children living in poverty and without health insurance also increased.
To help combat this rise in vaccine-preventable disease, Betty Bumpers, again with Rosaylnn Carter, launched Every Child By Two – Carter/Bumpers Champions for Immunization.
Founded in 1991, Every Child By Two, now Vaccinate Your Family, has worked to raise awareness about the importance of getting vaccinated on time and on schedule. This was especially important at the time, when many preschool age kids weren’t getting vaccinated. And it still is, as misinformation about vaccines continues to scare some parents away from vaccinating and protecting their kids.
She also worked with her husband, Senator Dale Bumpers, to encourage Bill Clinton’s administration to develop the Childhood Immunization Initiative, which he proposed in 1993, and to pass the Vaccines for Children Program, which was created by the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993.
In addition to her work helping get kids vaccinated, Betty Bumpers:
She is truly a hero and should be remembered for all of the work she did.
Whether folks understand it or not, it is because of the work of Betty Bumpers that even as some folks skip or delay their child’s vaccines, the outbreaks they cause are eventually contained before they get out of control.
Betty Bumpers was a champion in our efforts to reduce the burden of vaccine-preventable diseases among children in the United States. She played a major leadership role as 1st Lady of Arkansas in improving immunization in that state and was inspirational in launching the first major Presidential Initiative on Immunization during the late 1970s. She continued to be a major immunization advocate through much of her life launching “Every Child By Two (ECBT)” which she chaired along with Mrs. Rosalyn Carter, now “Vaccinate Your Family”.
Walter Orenstein
That work will continue to save the lives of millions of children, at least it will as long as we don’t let folks chip away at it, allowing them to abuse exemptions and spread propaganda, scaring parents away from vaccinating and protecting their kids.
But maybe it is something we should start thinking about more, as it seems that many colleges do not have actually require their students to be vaccinated and protected!
Vaccine Requirements for College Entry
The one vaccine that is the most often associated with going to college is the one that protects our kids against meningococcal disease.
“Immunizations are recommended to protect your health and the health of others, but they are not required by the university.”
Welcome to the University of Michigan!
Fortunately, most schools do require at least some vaccines.
In addition to either Menactra or Menveo, many require two doses of MMR.
Some also require three doses of hepatitis B vaccine.
A few, like the University of Michigan and the University of Wisconsin don’t require any vaccines though.
These are the ten of the biggest colleges in America, at least in terms of enrollment, and their immunization rules:
Tdap
MMR
Var
HepA/B
MCV4
MenB
HPV
IPV
OSU
1
2
2
X/3
1
X
X
4
Fla
R
2
R
R/3
1
R
R
R
Minn
1
2
X
X
X
X
X
X
ASU
R
2
X
X
R
X
R
X
UT
R
R
R
R/R
1
X
R
X
UCF
R
2
R
R/R
R
R
R
R
A&M
X
X
X
X
1
X
X
X
Mich
R
R
R
R/R
R
X
R
R
PSU
R
2
R
R/R
R
R
R
X
Wisc
R
R
R
R/R
R
X
R
R
On the bright side, Ohio State University, with one of the largest combined graduate and undergraduate enrollment, has the strongest immunization requirements.
On the other hand, it is quite sad that many of the others either have weak requirements, only recommend (R), but don’t actually require many common immunizations for enrollment, or don’t even mention them (X).
Why don’t more colleges have stricter immunization requirements for enrollment?
It is likely that they haven’t caught up with the problem of parents skipping or delaying their kids’ immunizations.
“While many infectious diseases such as meningitis are rare, it is not uncommon for hundreds of students at a large university to contract the flu each season.”
Contagious on campus
Which brings us to a problem – how can colleges hope to control outbreaks well if they don’t even know which students are vaccinated or not, and so can’t easily quarantine unvaccinated students? They seem to manage mumps and meningococcal outbreaks, but neither are as contagious as measles or chicken pox.
Do we really need to wait for more outbreaks on college campuses before we start requiring that kids be vaccinated and protected before going to college?
At the very least, can we at least start tracking vaccine-preventable disease rates in college kids, make flu deaths in college students reportable, and report vaccination exemption rates by college campus?
There is a very good reason why people with HIV and hepatitis B don’t have to wear distinctive badges.
Have you ever thought that people with HIV should wear badges???
And whether or not they work in a hospital, it has nothing to do with the fact that they don’t pose a risk to others, and it has nothing to do with health care workers who refuse to get a flu shot and have to wear a mask.
Confidentiality Rules and Civil Rights
Hopefully we have gotten over a lot of the misinformation and stigma that once kept kids with HIV and hepatitis B out of schools and teens and adults out of work.
“Ryan White confidentiality guidelines have helped allay the fears that many people living with HIV have around unwanted disclosure and HIV discrimination.”
Building Trust: Confidentiality and the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program
And of course, that’s why people with HIV and hepatitis B don’t have to “wear any distinctive badges or clothing.”
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is the most powerful law safeguarding the rights of children in public and private schools and daycare centers. The law also prevents any organization or business from discriminating against a person because of a real or perceived disability, such as an infectious disease.
A second law, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, bars schools, colleges and other organizations receiving federal funding from discriminating against children with disabilities. Section 504 identifies chronic liver disease as a “hidden disability.”
Legal Protections for Children with Viral Hepatitis
In fact, laws protect people with HIV/AIDS and other conditions, so that no one would try and make them “wear any distinctive badges or clothing.”
“Almost 30 years after the onset of the epidemic, HIV stigma and discrimination—fed largely by ignorance and animus—persist and continue to have a forceful impact on people living with HIV.”
HIV Stigma and Discrimination Persist, Even in Health Care
Or at least you would hope no one would try and make them wear a badge…
