Gov. Jerry Brown wasted no time Tuesday in signing a contentiousCalifornia bill to impose one of the strictest school vaccination laws in the country following an outbreak of measles at Disneyland late last year.
Brown, a Democrat, issued a signing statement just one day after lawmakers sent him the bill to strike California’s personal belief exemption for immunizations, a move that requires nearly all public schoolchildren to be vaccinated. The bill takes effect next year.
“The science is clear that vaccines dramatically protect children against a number of infectious and dangerous diseases,” Brown wrote. “While it’s true that no medical intervention is without risk, the evidence shows that immunization powerfully benefits and protects the community.”
California joins Mississippi and West Virginia as the only states with such strict requirements.
