Vaccination Rush On As New California Law Takes Effect
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Kids are lining up at pediatrician offices and clinics for vaccinations, as the first day of school and a new era approach.
Under a new California law, kids attending school or child care centers must be immunized against a number of diseases.
Required vaccines include tetanus, diphtheria, measles, polio, hepatitis B and chickenpox.
Kids with personal or religious belief exemptions don't have to comply until they enter a new grade span. Grade spans begin at kindergarten and again at seventh grade.
The Los Angeles Unified School District reports high compliance, but not all parents are happy about the new regulation.
"I think there's room for a conversation about vaccines and I think we should start having it before we start mandating it," said Betsy Chasse. "My son is in the fourth grade so I don't have to do anything with him until seventh grade. So, my intention is that I have now until he's in seventh grade to do whatever I can to repeal this law."
The only exemptions to California's mandatory vaccination law are for students who are home schooled or in an independent study program that doesn't include classroom instruction.