SFMS-Endorsed Vaccination Bill SB 277 Clears Senate Education Committee April 22, 2015 Advocacy, News, Public Health vaccination, PBE, SB 277 0 Senate Bill 277 (Pan/Allen) cleared the Senate Education Committee today with a 7-2 vote. The bill will now move on to the Senate Judiciary Committee. SB 277 will remove the Personal Belief Exemption (PBE) option from the school and child care enrollment requirements. It will also require schools to publically provide information about their immunization rates. Removing the PBE will help protect the most vulnerable, including babies too young to be immunized and people who are immunocompromised, from the risks associated with contracting these diseases. It will also protect the community at large from increased outbreaks of vaccine-preventable disease. The bill was recently amended to provide a public school option and broaden home school options for families that choose not to vaccine. SFMS joins the I Heart Immunity coalition of education, health care, and community groups in thanking the Senate Education Committee for passing this bill as well as Senators Pan and Allen for their leadership in authoring it. In 2000, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) determined that measles had been eradicated in the United States. However, since December 2014, California has had 133 confirmed cases of measles across 13 counties. Efforts to contain the outbreak have resulted in mandatory quarantines and the redirection of public health resources to investigations into exposure. The San Francisco Chronicle, Sacramento Bee, Los Angeles Times, San Jose Mercury News, and the Los Angeles Daily News have joined local governments and community organizations across the state in urging support for the bill. A full list of endorsements can be found by clicking here. Comments are closed.
