California Vaccination Bill SB 277 Signed By Governor, Becomes Law - Forbes

A California bill that removes all exemptions to vaccine requirements for school entry except those medically indicated has just become law. After the California Assembly passed SB 277 on Thursday and the state senate passed the same version Monday, Governor Jerry Brown signed the bill into law this morning.

“The science is clear that vaccines dramatically protect children against a number of infectious and dangerous diseases,” Brown wrote in his signing message. “While it’s true that no medical intervention is without risk, the evidence shows that immunization powerfully benefits and protects the community.”

Brown acknowledged the significant and acrimonious opposition – including comparisons to Nazi Germany – and controversy that has surrounded the bill since its inception, inspired by the outbreak of measles that began at Disneyland last winter. But he points out that any child with a medical contraindication to receiving a vaccine can still receive an exemption to attend daycare or school.

“While requiring that school children be vaccinated,” he wrote, SB 277 “explicitly provides an exception when a physician believes that circumstances – in the judgment and sound discretion of the physician – so warrant.”

The law applies to students attending any public or private school in the state, so parents who choose not to vaccinate children for non-medical reasons would need to homeschool their children. The only other states with similar immunization policies that do not allow any non-medical exemptions are Mississippi and West Virginia.

California Vaccination Bill SB 277 Signed By Governor, Becomes Law - Forbes