Tag: SB 277
The long, strange road to passing SB 276 appears to be near its end…finally
In 2015, California passed SB 277, which eliminated religious and personal belief exemptions to school vaccine mandates. Unfortunately, there was a problem; a weakness in the law allowed antivaccine quacks to help parents get around the law by writing medical exemptions not supported by science. The long strange battle to get SB 276, the law designed to close that loophole, reveals a...
Measles outbreaks and the antivaccine movement
Dr. Gorski returns from medical leave and finds that a lot has been going on with respect to vaccines, antivaxers, and measles outbreaks. Measles outbreaks are changing the narrative, emboldening legislators to tighten vaccine mandates, and also making antivaxers more radical. However, the narrative is, as is usually the case, more complex than what we usually hear.
Addressing the epidemic of antivaccine misinformation
Last week, Dr. Gorski was on vacation. However, part of his vacation involved spending a couple of hours with two of his heroes, meeting new pro-science advocates, and talking vaccine hesitancy and the antivaccine movement.
The So-Called Vaccine Debate: False Balance in The San Diego Union-Tribune
A recent article in The San Diego Union-Tribune presents a pair of articles that gives a false balance regarding vaccinations. Those who oppose vaccination do so on the basis of ideology rather than science, thus placing the public's health at risk.
California SB 277: New evidence that restricting nonmedical exemptions to school vaccine requirements works
The 2016-2017 kindergarten numbers are in. SB 277, the new California law banning personal belief exemptions to school vaccine requirements, works as intended. Early numbers show that vaccine uptake has increased, and personal belief exemptions are down dramatically.
No Compromise on Vaccine Refusal
A new position paper released by the American Academy of Pediatrics suggests taking a hard stance against nonmedical exemptions to immunization. I agree, and the evidence suggests such a stance would increase vaccination rates and reduce the outbreaks of diseases.
Medical exemptions to vaccine mandates for sale after SB277! Get ’em before they’re gone!
When California passed SB 277 into law, eliminating personal belief exemptions to school vaccine requirements and permitting only personal medical exemptions, I predicted that antivaccine quacks would start issuing bogus medical exemptions. Unfortunately, I was right.
Laws Limiting Vaccine Exemptions Work
It’s nice when a question can be resolved with objective numbers of unequivocal outcomes. Subjective outcomes give scientists a headache. In this case we are talking about the effect of vaccine exemption laws on vaccine compliance rates. The question here is not the ethical one, the rights of parents to determine the fate of their children vs the right of the state...
Donald Trump and the dangerous vaccine politics of the 2016 Presidential race
At the second Republican debate of the 2016 election cycle, Donald Trump parroted antivaccine pseudoscience, and Ben Carson walked back his previously strong support for vaccine mandates. Earlier in the campaign, Rand Paul blamed vaccines for "neurologic injury," and Chris Christie briefly pandered by questioning vaccine mandates. What's going on here? Is the Republican Party becoming the antivaccine party?
The war in California over nonmedical exemptions to school vaccine mandates, part 2
California has passed SB 277 into law. Beginning in the 2016-2017 school year, SB 277 will eliminate personal belief exemptions to school vaccine requirements. This will benefit the health of California schoolchildren, but the law is not perfect and already antivaxers are looking for loopholes.