ON January 24, 2022, Senator Pan, Newman, Wiener, and Assembly Members Aguiar-Curry, Akilah Weber, and Wicks introduced and authored Senate Bill SB871, to strip us of our right to decline the COVID-19 Vaccine for any reason.
CA SB871, if passed, would require that all children attending public or private elementary or secondary school, childcare center, day nursery, nursery school, home family day, or development center receive the COVID-19 vaccine starting in 2023. This bill would take away the fundamental right of parents to choose what is best for their children. California has no exemptions available for families to opt out of the COVID-19 vaccine. In 2015, Governor Brown approved Senate Bill 277, which allowed the Government to take away our religious and philosophical exemptions to opt-out of routine childhood vaccinations.
In 2015, Senator Richard Pan promised parents the State of California would allow a total medical exemption. However, Senator Pan did not keep that promise.
In 2019, SB276 took away 98% of all existing and future medical exemptions in exchange for narrow and exclusionary criteria. Doctors now must follow the CDC Contraindications and Precautions (https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/acip-recs/general-recs/contraindications.html). The narrow criteria dictated by the CDC do not allow a doctor to consider a personal or family medical history and genetics. It will only allow an exemption for severe adverse reactions such as anaphylaxis. For instance, if a child suffers from neurological problems such as seizures or tics caused by the vaccination, the child will be excluded from an exemption. Unfortunately, it has been the experience of many parents that doctors often fail to connect an adverse reaction to vaccines. Further, most doctors refuse to write a medical exemption.
All medical exemptions must be processed and approved by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) – undermining the critical doctor/patient relationship. In doing so, the CDPH is empowering a bureaucratic government agency to decide the medical care for your child instead of continuing to entrust it to the Doctor who knows your child best.
Overall, SB871 is a draconian bill that must be defeated.
To defeat a Bill it is critical to write to your Assembly Members and voice your opposition to the Bill.