As Parents Continue Safety Debate, Health Department Offers Free Immunizations

All children without a medical exemption who reside in Pasadena will have to be immunized in order to attend school as the result of Governor Brown signing SB277 into law, Pasadena Health Officer Dr. Ying-Ying Goh said Wednesday.

Parents can no longer cite a religious or personal belief to waive the vaccination requirement.

The law goes into effect January 1 of next year and will be enforced at both public and private schools, including children in day care.

“What we will see is a higher vaccination rate,” Dr. Goh said, “The community can feel confident that we will have higher protection for all of us from preventable infectious diseases.”

Dr. Goh pointed to the recent measles outbreak at Disneyland as an example of how unimmunized children can infect others.

“That was just one recent incident where we actually see that there’s a consequence to not vaccinating our children,” Dr. Goh said.

Pasadena registered nurse Ariel Loop, whose 4-month-old son contracted measles at Disneyland, said she was “so relieved that something good was able to come from the outbreak my son was involved in.”

“I’m a proud Californian,” Loop said.

Other parents object to mandatory vaccinations. Some believe immunizations may cause autism in children.

In one exchange on Pasadena Now’s Facebook page, a woman wrote that “It would be different if this was the 1800s and we didn’t have cures for the diseases. Also, too strong a link to autism and other problems!”

When that comment received the reply “There is ZERO substantiated link between vaccines and autism” backed by “Zero,” a fourth parent retorted “Wrong and wrong.”

Dr. Goh, however, says “the science shows us that very clearly the benefits of vaccination far outweigh the risks.”

Dr. Goh there are “different mechanisms” for getting immunizations available for children whose families are uninsured.

“All children can get vaccines even for free,” Dr. Goh said. “So there should not be an access barrier, all children should have access to vaccine. One of the ways they can get free vaccine is through the Health Department, through our immunization clinic. They can get free vaccines.”

Dr. Goh parents will be required to submit forms to the schools documenting that their children have been immunized in order to be admitted to school.

Ann Rector is Coordinator of Health Programs for the Pasadena Unified School District and will be responsible for the District’s compliance with the new law.

Rector is participating in a conference in San Diego and said by email she has not yet been able to study the language of the law or to determine actions needed for Pasadena Unified to comply with the law.