Kids Back in School Without Vaccination

A new law has been passed that makes it mandatory for school children to get vaccinated. Yet, many Californian students are back in their classrooms without the necessary shots.
Last year, due to a measles outbreak, Gov. Jerry Brown signed and approved the law that makes it compulsory for all kids (except those with medical exemptions) to get the 10 shots that prevent them from getting diseases such as hepatitis and measles. Previously, some parents used personal belief or religious reasons to avoid getting their kids vaccinated. However, with the passing of this law, such reasons can no longer give them the chance to opt out.
One flaw in this system though, is the fact that parents need to submit immunization records only twice in their kid’s entire span in school; once at the beginning of kindergarten and once when the kid reaches seventh grade.
Parents who already got the exemption don’t need to show any proof of immunization till their kids switch from preschool to kindergarten or when they enter the seventh grade. Kids already in 8th grade can even pass high school without ever showing any evidence of getting vaccinated. However, if any student is new to a district, then they need to show the relevant documents.
Parents who have no issue against vaccination their kids have made efforts to ensure their kids got the required shots; the school staff was also dealing with the relevant paperwork to streamline the vaccination proof records. The number of students who were not vaccinated was in hundreds.
Studies show that last year’s measles outbreak in California was primarily due to people who have not been immunized. Some parents do not believe vaccines to be safe and question its efficacy. Some even believe that certain vaccinations may lead to autism, though this connection has long been discredited by professionals.
There are some however who have a clear understanding of this new law and have followed it strictly. A week before the school started in Berkley, most of the parents had already submitted proof of immunization forms. Superintendent Donald Evans said, those who did not submit the form “will be sent away.”
Adrienne Moore, a concerned mother from San Francisco tried to get exemption for her daughter, as she claims that her daughter, after getting a tetanus shot became completely unresponsive for nine days.
This law is still facing opposition and a decision is yet to be made in court, as an anti-vaccination group has filed charges that the law violates a child’s right to education.