California would allow preteens to get vaccines without parents’ consent

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• Sen. Scott Wiener on Thursday introduced a bill that would allow children age 12 and up to be vaccinated without parental consent.
• The Democrat from San Francisco said it’s “unconscionable” for teens and preteens to be banned from the vaccine because a parent won’t allow it.
• Wiener’s legislation is not a mandate.

California would allow children age 12 and up to be vaccinated without parental consent, the youngest age of any state. The bill was proposed late Thursday by Sen. Scott Wiener, a Democrat from San Francisco.

Alabama allows such decisions at age 14, Oregon at 15, Rhode Island and South Carolina at 16. Only Washington, D.C., has a lower limit, at age 11.

Wiener argued that California already allows those 12 and up to consent to the Hepatitis B and Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines, and to treatment for sexually transmitted infections, substance abuse and mental health disorders.

“Giving young people the autonomy to receive life-saving vaccines, regardless of their parents’ beliefs or work schedules, is essential for their physical and mental health,” he said. “It’s unconscionable for teens to be blocked from the vaccine because a parent either refuses or cannot take their child to a vaccination site.”

Currently in California, minors ages 12 to 17 cannot be vaccinated without permission from their parents or guardian, unless the vaccine is specifically to prevent a sexually transmitted disease.

Wiener’s bill would lift the parental requirement for that age group for any vaccine that has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom in October announced the nation’s first coronavirus vaccine mandate for schoolchildren. But it likely won’t take effect until later this year and allows exemptions for medical reasons, religious and personal beliefs — though lawmakers may try to limit non-medical reasons.

Wiener’s legislation is permissive, not a mandate, but any vaccination legislation has been hugely controversial in California and elsewhere.

Even before the pandemic, busloads of opponents filled the Capital and lined up for hours to protest bills lifting religious and personal beliefs for the 10 vaccines already required of school children.

And in September, more than a thousand people rallied outside the state Capitol to oppose vaccine mandates, even though lawmakers had postponed their consideration of legislation requiring that workers either be vaccinated or get weekly coronavirus testing to keep their jobs.

Wiener held out the examples of children who may want to get vaccinated because they currently are barred from participating in sports, band or other activities because their parents either won’t or can’t get them vaccinated.

Children age 5 and up are currently eligible for coronavirus vaccines, but 28.6% of those in California ages 12-17 remain unvaccinated, Wiener said.

Source: Yahoo! News