Essay On Dear California Department Of Public Health

Mandatory vaccination is an extremely controversial topic because it violates constitutionally protected right to practice religion and personal beliefs in the absence of the true health emergency (First Amendment of the Constitution). The new law destroys the individual rights of parents to make voluntary decisions in the best interest of their children in the health care decisions and diminishes the role of parents in upbringing and educating their children (Skov).

The state of Florida has a selection of laws in place regulating vaccinations and vaccination exemptions, but what drives them? Vaccines against meningococcal meningitis and hepatitis are mandatory for enrollment in the K-20 public education system. An individual enrolled in any postsecondary institution who will be residing in on campus housing must provide documentation of these vaccinations. A majority of parents argue that its unethical to force someone else’s child to be immunized, in any situation. There is a request that can be made for religious requirements, and must be presented to the facility or school on the Department of Health’s Religious Exemption from Immunization form -DH 681 Form-. The DH 681 Form is issued by county health departments and is only for a child who is not immunized because of their family’s religious practices. (nvic.org) The vast majority of parents are so strongly opinionated on whether vaccinations will positively or negatively impact their children, but no one takes into consideration the parents who differ in opinions themselves.

While supporting the voluntary immunization for children and defending the right to have information regarding the risk involved with vaccines, the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) oppose the elimination of or possible barriers of entry to obtain Non-Medical Exemptions. In an effort to reduce vaccine related injuries and/or death and support those who do not want to receive vaccines due to personal, spiritual, or religious beliefs, the NVIC supports the right to Non-Medical Exemptions. The primary purpose of this paper is to analyze the safety, efficacy, and economic burden of vaccines, as well as the right to choice in regards to Non-Medical Exemptions.

According to the Center’s of Disease Control and Prevention (2012), there are no federal requirements for childhood immunizations. While the CDC (2012) provides recommendations, each state sets their own rules and exemptions for schools and childcare attendance. On June 30, 2015, Governor Jerry Brown of California made history by eliminating the exemption from immunizations due to personal beliefs for children in public or private schools; however, medical exemptions initiated by a DO or MD will still be allowed (Royce, 2015; California Department of Public Health, 2015a). In 2013-2014, there were nearly 17000 personal belief vaccination exemptions in California (Almasy, 2015). Throughout the history of vaccinations very strong opinions for or against immunizations have existed,

Recently, Governor Jerry Brown signed the California Vaccination Bill SB 277. This bill no longer has exceptions based on religious or personal-beliefs, and it requires every single child to have the proper vaccinations in order to be allowed into a public or private school. So if parents truly do not want their child to be vaccinated they would have to homeschool them instead. This bill was influenced by the recent outbreak of measles that started at Disneyland and spread very quickly and caused the infection of one hundred and fifty people. California, Mississippi, and West Virginia are the three states that no longer allow non-medical exemptions. This new law goes into effect on July 1, 2016.

The power of the school district is intended to protect the students in the school. However, this does not mean mere physical protection. The school district has a responsibility to protect the rights of students also. They should avoid requiring parents that object to having their children vaccinated to have them vaccinated. Nevertheless, though I disagree, the current precedent is that the schools do have the authority to require students to receive vaccination (Essex, 2012).

Everyone in the United States who is not apart of a religious group--in which vaccination will infringe upon their beliefs--should receive vaccinations to ensure the safety of American citizens. For instance, when one schedules an annual physical, he/she may immediately think of vaccines. Young children may whine and teenagers may gripe. “Do I really need a shot mom?” One grumpy teenager or child might ask. The mother, in a typical setting, will say yes. The parent will not reply yes because they wish to hear his/her child complain about a sore arm for the next three days; no, the parent allows the nurse to administer the shot because the vaccine is recommended. In fact, vaccines have been a proven and effective way to protect the human race against diseases. With the intention of preventing diseases, listening to recommendation by qualified physicians and nurses could mean the difference between life and death for other children.

I agree with Lantos, Jackson and Harrison (2012) that personal belief exemptions should not be allowed when it comes to vaccinating children. However, Opel and Diekema do make a good point about changing the way exemptions are made and could be a possibility in the future before completely. I do, however still believe that all parents try to make a choice based on the best interest of their child but in this circumstance they are not only choosing for their own child but are putting other children at risk in the process. This is what I don’t agree with. Many parents have said that it goes against their religious freedoms, or they don’t want to be forced to do something but I believe those are not good enough reasons unless the risks are outweighing the benefits through allergy or medical condition.

First of all, religion has become a frequently used excuse. Recently, a case arose in New York City when three families obtained vaccination exemptions due to religious reasons (NYC Court 1). Because they chose to not vaccinate their children, their children were not allowed to attend school during times when another student had a vaccine-preventable illness (NYC Court 1). Naturally, this sparked an uproar among the parents, who then sued the city by claiming it was a violation of their First Amendment right to religious freedom and their 14th Amendment right to equal protection under the law (NYC Court 1). The dogma of several mainstream religions references vaccines and whether or not they are necessary. For example, “the Catholic Church strongly supports vaccination, even making it a moral and

In the 1850s the first school vaccination requirement were enacted to prevent smallpox. Federal and state efforts to eradicate measles in the 1960s and 1970s motivated many to mandate policies. By the 1990s, all 50 states requirement for children to be enrolled in school must receive certain immunizations and if these requirements were not met than children were not allowed to be enrolled in school (Center for Disease Control Prevention, 2010). For example, in the state of California, private public school or daycare cannot admit children unless vaccinations were received for all ten of the diseases. If the California Department of Public Health implements a requirement for vaccination parent can be allowed to obtain personal belief exemptions that would allow parents to opt out of vaccination for their children if form is filled out by healthcare professional that states vaccinations were countered to personal beliefs. This law has not been implemented as of yet but should be in 2016. The healthcare of policy decision in laws can have an influence on individuals based on the decision that are made. Health care policy and issues can affect providers and patients in many different ways. Stakeholders’ in the policymakers for vaccination main concern is the safety and health of children so the implement exemptions of laws from concern about vaccine

Likewise, some people should not receive vaccinations. These individuals should not receive vaccinations due to their age, health conditions, among other factors. These other conditions are independent depending on the type of vaccination received. “They can range from an individual who cannot swallow, to a pregnant woman, to a person with a life-threatening allergy, to a component in the vaccination” (Hales 543). A small percentage of individuals do not respond to a particular vaccine. ”All states provide medical exemptions, and some state laws also offer exemptions for religious and philosophical reasons” (State Vaccination Requirements). “Some religions even prevent certain parents from vaccinating their children because of their belief that the disease is a naturally occurring thing and humans have no right interfering with it” (Hales 544). However, most state laws establish vaccination requirements for school children. These laws apply to public schools, private schools, and day care centers. “State laws also establish mechanisms for enforcement of school vaccination requirements” (State Vaccination Requirement). “Vaccines save

Vaccinations; it’s an intimidating word. Imagine your child being stabbed with needles containing diseases just because your pediatrician said it helps. While a good portion of the audience here today can understand this issue, my question is why are vaccinations such a problem? More specifically, what are the altercations of religious exemptions to vaccines? While it seems to be a personal issue, the choice to or not to vaccinate affects the lives of everyone in your community. All I ask is that you keep an open mind and listen to the information I will present today in hopes that you will better understand vaccinations and the necessity for mandatory vaccination.

Immunization via vaccines has been a hot topic of debate in recent years. As with many issues advocates for and against vaccines can be found. The problem that has been identified is that Nevada is one of many states in the country that is considered to be more lenient on vaccination requirements for school aged children. The Nevada school system will take medical and religious exemptions when it comes to vaccinations. All fifty states and the District of Columbia grant medical exemptions to immunization requirements (Blank, Caplan, & Constable, 2013). While medical exemptions are a rational reason as to why children cannot receive certain vaccines the question that is being asked is: whether or not religious exemptions are a good enough reason to not have a child vaccinated? These exemptions can cause an increase in acquiring and

In contrast, a positive aspect of many people having vaccinations is herd immunity. Herd immunity is the occurrence where a large proportion of a specific population is vaccinated to provide them immunity, and as a result, it also gives some protection to the people of the population who have and yet developed immunity. This happens as the a large group of vaccinated individuals are protected from a virus and creates difficulty for the it to spread because there is only a small percentage of the population left that could be infected by the disease. It is a very crucial aspect of immunity for the community as the people who cannot receive vaccinations (i.e. people with weak immune systems, very young children and patients who are too ill)

According to the History of Vaccinations currently, “Forty-eight states allow exemptions to vaccination for religious reasons” ( par. 10). Some states statutes indicate that to receive a religious exemption, a family must belong to a religious group with bonafide objections to