The I Heart Immunity Campaign, a group of public health advocates dedicated to increasing California immunization rates, today announced new support for Senate Bill 277 (Pan/Allen), which would eliminate the personal belief exemption option from required school vaccinations in California. The bill, which recently passed the Senate Health Committee 6-2, will be heard by the Senate Education Committee on Wednesday.

“The diverse outpouring of support for SB 277 reflects both the serious public health threat of vaccine-preventable illnesses and the well-settled science around the safety and efficacy of vaccinations,” said Luther Cobb, M.D., California Medical Association president. “California parents, physicians, educators, health advocates, elected officials and others have come together to say with one voice that ‘personal’ belief exemptions are not an individual choice when they jeopardize the health of all our children.”

The following organizations and individuals have recently voted to endorse SB 277 or spoke in favor of the legislation at the recent Senate Health Committee hearing:

• AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF)
• Children’s Defense Fund- California
• Alameda County Board of Supervisors
• Children’s Hospital and Research Center Oakland
• American Academy of Pediatrics, California
• The Children’s Partnership
• American Lung Association
• Children’s Specialty Care Coalition
• American Nurses Association (ANA)
• City of Beverly Hills
• BIOCOM
• County Health Executives Association
• Café de California
• County of Los Angeles
• California Academy of Family Physicians
• County of Marin
• California American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP)
• County of San Francisco
• California Association for Nurse Practitioners (CANP)
• County of Santa Clara
• California Black Health Network
• County of Santa Clara
• California Children’s Hospital Association
• County of Yolo
• California Coverage and Health Initiatives (CCHI)
• First 5
• California Hospital Association
• Health Officers Association of California
• California Immunization Coalition
• Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones
• California Medical Association (CMA)
• Kaiser PermanenteCalifornia Optometric Association
• March of Dimes
• California Pharmacists Association
• National Coalition of 100 Black Women
• California Primary Care Association (CPCA)
• Pasadena Public Health Department
• California School Boards Association (CSBA)
• Providence Health and Services Southern California
• California School Employees Association (CSEA)
• San Francisco Unified School District
• California School Nurses Organization (CSNO)
• San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD)
• California State PTA
• Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors
• Child Care Law Center
• Secular Coalition for America
• Children Now
• Silicon Valley Leadership Group
• Solano Beach Unified School District

“It is our duty as a community to protect children in school, especially medically vulnerable children – and SB 277 will do that,” said California State PTA President Colleen A. R. You in a statement. “[V]accines in use today are extremely safe and effective for the general population. Immunizations are recognized as one of the most beneficial and effective public-health measures.”

“We know that certain schools and school districts have high rates of unvaccinated children, thus resulting in higher incidence of vaccine preventable diseases, rates not seen in recent years. Changing the current school entry requirement to a medical exemption only for vaccinations will serve the public and schools well,” said California School Nurses Organization President Kathy Ryan in a letter. “Having ‘community immunity’ varies by vaccine but it provides protection for those students and staff who for medical reasons are unable to be vaccinated or are immunocompromised.”

A full list of endorsements can be found at Vaccinatecalifornia.org. 

About the ‘I Heart Immunity’ Campaign

The I Heart Immunity campaign is a group of public health advocates including the California Medical Association (CMA), American Academy of Pediatrics, California (AAPCA), California Immunization Coalition (CIC), Vaccinate California and Health Officers Association of California (HOAC).