L7.5.1: Mandatory Vaccination Act 2017

[Wells]

Okay so I should really defend this bill since I introduced it, but I introduced this mainly for the debate. I think the issue of public safety vs individual rights can be a really interesting argument, whether it is on this issue or another one. In this one though, it is pretty clear that there is no reason to not get vaccinated. (It does actually save lives, and the excuse that it may be against some religions isn't accurate; no religion explicitly goes against vaccines.) I think ensuring that children get the necessary vaccinations before they go to a public school is a good way to make sure that the population is vaccinated well enough to at least establish herd immunity.

Of course, a bill that requires vaccination in any way still has to be well written and have good details. ReaganClinton's proposed bill is a decent start. But I have a few problems with it, or rather what ReaganClinton has said. For one, what if someone wants to vaccinate their kid in May? Is this law not allowing that? Or would they have to get the same vaccination again? Also, June 1 to August 1 is less than 90 days. And I'm personally against fines as a punishment in this issue.

So I've come up with a summary of what should be in the bill, at least in my opinion:

• In order to be enrolled in Kindergarten, the child must have had their HepB vaccine, DTaP vaccine, Hib vaccine, IPV vaccine, PCV vaccine, RV vaccine, flu vaccine, Varicella vaccine, MMR vaccine, and HepA vaccine. In order to be enrolled in eighth grade, a child must have had their Meningococcal conjugate vaccine, HPV vaccine, Tdap vaccine, and flu vaccine, along with all the vaccines previously mentioned. (This is based off of this CDC link.)
• Thi is a requirement in order to go to public school and nothing else.

[Wells]

I still have an issue with a few detail the bill looks like it needs. What is the point of the period? I think it would just be easier to say that they are required by a deadline instead of also having a start date, which I think only confuses things. At the very least, maybe some specifics could do around the time period. Does it occur annually? Does it last 4 months, 1 year and 4 months, 100 years and 4 months? Does it only happen once or does it repeat? It doesn't really say.

The bill mentions that all the vaccines are required within "the 18 year period" which makes it seem like the period from section 1 lasts 18 years. In which case someone born tomorrow would not be required to get any vaccines until May 1 of next year, which seems odd since vaccines would not be required of them for the first seven months of their life. (And it would last until September 2035, for nearly a year after they turn 18, which seems to make the bill contradict itself.) Unless "the 18 year period" is another period of time that has not been previously mentioned yet in the bill (and won't be mentioned again), which is also confusing.

This bill also doesn't give the recommended age ranges for these vaccines, which could cause some problems. The requirements to have certain vaccines in order to enroll in certain grades was to make sure that children got their vaccines when doctors recommend they receive them, instead of just putting in law that they have 18 years to get any of them whenever. (Of course doctors will likely administer them in the right order, but the law should still be clearer.)

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This is mostly good, but what vaccines should the schools require they have? Are there elementary schools that will turn away students because they don't have the HPV vaccine?

I still have the same requirements of this bill as I did :

• In order to be enrolled in Kindergarten, the child must have had their HepB vaccine, DTaP vaccine, Hib vaccine, IPV vaccine, PCV vaccine, RV vaccine, flu vaccine, Varicella vaccine, MMR vaccine, and HepA vaccine. In order to be enrolled in eighth grade, a child must have had their Meningococcal conjugate vaccine, HPV vaccine, Tdap vaccine, and flu vaccine, along with all the vaccines previously mentioned. (This is based off of this CDC link.)
• Thi is a requirement in order to go to public school and nothing else.