Oppose SB 277 – A Solution in Search of a Problem
California has excellent vaccination rates, which are on the rise, and low Personal
Belief Exemption use, which is falling. Rates below 97.46% are not related to the
personal belief exemptions, but due to how and when vaccination is measured.
Myth: California vaccination rates are dropping hence the measles issue at
Disneyland and recent Pertussis (Whooping Cough) cases.
Fact: Since passage AB 2109 (Pan) vaccination rates have increased 20%.
Myth: Personal Belief Exemptions are responsible for unvaccinated population.
Fact: Personal Belief Exemptions have dropped 19% throughout 2013-14 to
2014-15. They account for only 2.5% of unvaccinated children in California.
Fact: Further skewing the data, of the 2.5% many have attained some, but not
EVERY vaccine in the schedule, and are coded as COMPLETELY
UNVACCINATED by the California Department of Public Health.
Fact: 6.9% of unvaccinated children are categorized as “Conditional Entrants”.
This includes any California child who has never been in a
State Licensed Day Care or Preschool and therefore has never had to provide
vaccination records.
These are often new parents learning the system, or the highly mobile, transient, or
migrant populations unable to easily access records.
“Conditional Entry” is allowed for children who do not have proper documentation
at the beginning of the school year, or are still in the process of getting final
injections.
Fact: Excluding Conditional Entrants, California has a 97.46% vaccinations rate.
Fact: According to Center for Disease Control, “More than 99% of the 2008–
2009 birth cohorts who became kindergartners in 2013–14 received at least one
vaccine in early childhood. Very few children are completely unvaccinated.”
Myth: Even though the overall rates might be OK, there are ‘pockets’ of
unacceptably high exemption use.
Fact: This is bad math. The California Department of Public Health’s practice of
measuring any child with a personal belief exemption as completely unvaccinated,
and the distortion that comes from using percentage statistics to measure small
populations, results in bad math.
The highest population county in CA is Los Angeles, which has 130,146
Kindergartners. A single child with a personal belief exemption in LA County has
a .0076% effect on LA County’s personal belief exemption rate. The lowest
population county is Sierra, with 28 Kindergartners. A single child with a personal
belief exemption in Sierra County has a 3.85% effect on Sierra.
Congressman Dick Arm once said “I never met a statistic that couldn’t be tortured
into a confession”. This is a case in point.
Myth: Cases of Pertussis are indication of need for SB 277.
Fact: Cases of Pertussis involve those already vaccinated. The vaccine has
proven to be woefully ineffective and has nothing to do with personal belief
exemptions.
Some vaccines are simply ineffective. Discover Magazine reported that 73 percent
of kids aged 7 to 10 who caught pertussis in 2012 in Washington had been fully
vaccinated.
Dr. Suzanne Humphries says that “a controlled study of school age children
showed that of all the whooping cough that was diagnosed, over 86% of the
children were fully vaccinated and up to date for the whooping cough
vaccine.” The same is true for the measles vaccine.
Other reports on the ineffectiveness of many vaccines:
 Over 1000 Got Mumps in NY in Last Six Months
 Over 98% were vaccinated in college measles epidemic
 NY measles outbreak: 90% were vaccinated
 Ohio mumps outbreak: 97% vaccinated
 Pertussis outbreak: 91% fully vaccinated
 99% vaccinated in flu epidemic
Myth: Medical exemptions can be easily obtained from a physician.
Fact: Medical Exemptions Are Difficult to Get - A medical exemption to
vaccination is very difficult to obtain because almost all medical reasons for
delaying or withholding vaccines have been eliminated by government and
medical trade officials. Most doctors and health care workers follow federal
guidelines published by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) outlining what is
and is not considered a medical contraindication to vaccination. Short of
anaphylaxis after a previous dose, nothing qualifies as a medical exemption.
Immunosuppression and autoimmune disease doesn’t qualify for a medical
exemption. Being HIV positive doesn’t qualify as a medical exemption.
See attached documentation.
Myth: 96% of my constituents are vaccinated so they must support vaccinations
and I should also.
Fact: More bad math. Vaccination rates pertain to minors not registered voters.
You can’t assume 96% of registered voters therefor support mandatory
vaccinations. It also presumes that every parent of a vaccinated child has taken the
time to talk to their health care provider about all the risks and rewards of vaccines,
read the inserts of all the contraindications and then decided to inject all 69 doses
of the vaccine schedule into their children.
Myth: Babies are vulnerable to exposure to Hepatitis B in many ways.
Fact: The Hepatitis B virus is spread through contact with the blood and body
fluids of an infected person.
You may get hepatitis B if you:
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Have sex with an infected person without using a condom.
Share needles (used for injecting drugs) with an infected
person.
Get a tattoo or piercing with tools that weren't sterilized.
Share personal items like razors or toothbrushes with an
infected person.
Mother is already infected during pregnancy
None are likely to expose a baby to Hepatitis B.
CONCLUSIONS:
There is no need for SB 277.
Personal belief exemptions are dropping (19% since implementation of AB 2109),
vaccination rates are increasing (20% since implementation of AB 2109).
Personal belief exemptions are NOT impacting vaccination rates in any meaningful
way. 97.46 vaccination rate in California.
Measles at Disneyland were not caused by unvaccinated children as a result of
personal belief exemptions according to the federal Center on Disease Control.
Medical exemptions are NOT an option for parents who fear harm to their children
from vaccinations.