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(Chart:\u00a0The New England Journal of Medicine<\/a>)<\/p>\n In the US, California was hit the hardest by measles last year and has not fared better in 2015. Nearly 100 cases of measles have been reported in the state in just the last two months, which is more than the entire nation normally sees in a year.<\/p>\n READ MORE: Viral debate: Is measles-vaccination America\u2019s new political issue?<\/a><\/p>\n A spokesman for California Gov. Jerry Brown\u00a0told<\/a>\u00a0the Los Angeles Times that Brown is open to supporting the bill.<\/p>\n Brown\u00a0“believes that vaccinations are profoundly important and a major public health benefit, and any bill that reaches his desk will be closely considered,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0Evan Westrup said.<\/p>\n The LA Times reported that California currently has 13,592 kindergarten students with vaccination waivers on the basis of parents\u2019 personal beliefs. Of those, 2,764 of those were based on religious beliefs, according to state health data.<\/p>\n The bill\u2019s authors said not enough Californians are being vaccinated for preventable diseases, and that the anti-vaccine movement \u2013 partly stirred by discredited links between vaccines and autism \u2013 has created substantial concern among parents who do have their children vaccinated.<\/p>\n “We should not wait for more children to sicken or die before we act,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0said state Sen. Richard Pan, one of the authors of the legislation, at a news briefing on Wednesday.<\/p>\n “As a pediatrician I have personally witnessed children suffering lifelong injury or death from vaccine-preventable infection,”<\/em>\u00a0Pan added in a statement.<\/p>\n READ MORE: Big Pharma ‘overcharging’ poor countries for child vaccines – report<\/a><\/p>\n California\u2019s US Sens. Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein\u00a0wrote<\/a>\u00a0to the state\u2019s health department on Wednesday, calling for heightened vaccine standards.<\/p>\n “We think that under your leadership, California can change this practice and reassure families that all children are safe at schools, daycare centers, and in other public places,”<\/em>\u00a0the pair wrote.<\/p>\n Matthew B. McReynolds of the Pacific Justice Institute, a parental rights and religious freedom advocacy group, said that scrapping the vaccination exemptions may be an overreach by the state that violates personal choice.<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s concerning to me that the measles outbreak seems to have prompted some hysteria,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0he told the LA Times.\u00a0\u201cThis seems like a pretty sweeping approach to what really is a very limited problem that could be addressed in other ways.”<\/em><\/p>\n Sen. Pan led an effort in recent years to require any parent or guardian seeking a personal-belief exemption to consult with a doctor regarding any risks of proceeding without a vaccine. The state demands a health-care professional sign-off on any such exemption.<\/p>\n Gov. Brown supported the legislation, which went into effect in January 2014. Brown\u2019s office said that since then, exemptions have decreased by nearly 20 percent, from 3.15 percent of children in the 2013-14 school year to 2.54 percent in 2014-15.<\/p>\n According to the National Vaccine Information Center\u2019s\u00a0comprehensive nationwide legislative<\/a>\u00a0tracking, there have been 43 state-based legislative proposals concerning immunization filed thus far in 2015.<\/p>\n NVIC says it\u00a0\u201cdoes not advocate for or against the use of vaccines,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0according<\/a>\u00a0to its mission statement.<\/p>\n \u201cWe support the availability of all preventive health care options, including vaccines, and the right of consumers to make educated, voluntary health care choices.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n NVIC is opposed to 33 of the 43 measures, including several child-vaccination mandates like California\u2019s; parental vaccine-education efforts; eliminations or alterations for personal belief exemptions; statewide vaccine-tracking systems;\u00a0and Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine offerings to minors without parental consent.<\/p>\n The non-profit does support six proposals, including some that allow for more lenient exemptions rules for personal or religious beliefs and, in New Hampshire, one that mandates privacy protections within vaccine-tracking systems.<\/p>\n The organization says it will\u00a0\u201cwatch\u201d<\/em>\u00a0four other state proposals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" No more vaccination waivers – California lawmakers RT.com New legislation proposed in the California Senate would outlaw waivers that allow parents to exempt their children from receiving basic vaccinations for religious or personal reasons. The bill is a response to … Continue reading