Allen, a mother of two with a third child on the way, lost her nursing job for not complying with a COVID-19 vaccine mandate. Leah Allen, a former state representative and Republican lieutenant governor candidate, said that thousands of families will be "devastated" and their lives "destroyed" should the bills be signed into law. Marjorie Decker, co-chair of the Joint Committee on Public Health, had to repeatedly ask people waiting to testify in Gardner Auditorium to stay quiet and refrain from clapping, as the bills on the agenda drew sharp vocal opposition in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. Others lamented the prospect of needing to home-school their children, which poses financial burdens for working parents and guardians. ![]() ![]() Parents who oppose the bills said they may need to leave Massachusetts if their unvaccinated children can no longer attend school and receive in-person support, including mental health counseling. "Vaccines are a highly effective means of preventing infectious diseases - one of the greatest public health achievements of the 20ths century," Schwartz told lawmakers. Familes who refuse or delay vaccines for non-medical reasons cause elevated risks for others in the community, including newborns who do not have vaccine protections. In kindergartens across the commonwealth, nearly half or more than half of their students lack "critical" vaccinations, said Chloe Schwartz, director of maternal and infant health initiatives at March of Dimes. In the most recent school year, there were 813 religious exemptions.ĭerrick White has quietly become a go-to option in the clutch for C'sĬhildren need to receive a series of vaccines in order to enter kindergarten - such as the MMR shot to prevent measles, mumps, rubella and chickenpox - or seek medical or religious exemptions. State kindergarten data show there were 147 religious exemptions for immunizations in the 1987-1988 school year, compared to 418 in 2003-2004 and 747 in 2011-2012. Citing court cases, he balked at the "false" argument that his bill is unconstitutional. Vargas said the legislation doesn't require that children have the COVID-19 vaccine as a condition for attending school since the bill does not add the COVID-19 vaccine to the list of vaccines children must have. Massachusetts does not allow vaccine exemption for philosophical reasons using the religious exemption to exempt oneself for getting a vaccine for non-religious reasons is already a violation of the law." "This indicates that many people are taking advantage of the religious exemption and not vaccinating their children because of personal beliefs or misinformation, rather than legitimately deeply held religious concerns. "So-called religious exemptions in Massachusetts have risen by an astonishing 500 percent since the 1980s, despite residents' religious affiliations in the commonwealth decreasing over the same time span," Kennedy said. Get Boston local news, weather forecasts, lifestyle and entertainment stories to your inbox. The situation occurs when a high enough percentage is immune to an infectious disease - including through vaccination or contracting the disease - and there's "little opportunity" for it to spread, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The legislation would apply to public, charter and private schools, according to a Kennedy aide.ĭuring a Joint Committee on Public Health hearing, Kennedy said the rising volume of religious exemptions is hindering schools from reaching herd immunity. Edward Kennedy (H 604 / S 1391) would remove that option in an attempt to prevent disease outbreaks in the classroom and provide more protections for students who are immunocompromised and unable to get vaccinated. ![]() Under current state laws, parents and guardians can request a religious exemption - though there's no official form - by stating in writing that a "vaccine conflicts with the individual’s sincerely held religious belief."īills sponsored by Rep. Health experts on Wednesday praised bills that would nix the religion exemption for vaccinations as they warned about the rise of preventable diseases, such as measles and polio, while many parents who do not believe in immunizations opposed them during a contentious hearing.
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