Immunization

California's new vaccine exemption laws, Senate Bills 276 and 714, are mired in bureaucratic confusion a year after being signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom. The laws were meant to tighten oversight of medical exemptions, requiring a standardized state exemption form and flagging doctors disciplined or under investigation by the Medical Board of California. But the state Department of Public Health has not issued guidance on key provisions, leaving school nurses unsure whether increased scrutiny of exemptions applies now or starting in 2021.

State Sen. Richard Pan, the bills' author, insists some provisions are already in effect, including invalidating exemptions written by disciplined physicians such as Dr. Bob Sears, who was placed on probation in 2018. Four doctors, including Sears, face pending board allegations tied to immunizations. Advocacy groups and school nurse associations say the lack of clarity undermines the law's intent, while critics continue protesting the legislation, including outside Newsom's residence.

Florida's Department of Health has formally proposed a rule change that would remove hepatitis B, varicella, Hib and pneumococcal vaccines from school entry requirements for PreK-12 students. The proposal would also expand the state's religious exemption to cover "moral" or "ethical" beliefs and alter participation in the state immunization registry. Because the changes come through administrative rulemaking rather than legislation, they can take effect without a legislative vote.

The move follows a legislative session in which broader vaccine exemption proposals failed amid strong public opposition, including a December workshop in Panama City Beach where parents, physicians and public health experts raised concerns. Polling cited by advocates shows roughly eight in 10 Florida voters, across party lines, support maintaining current school vaccine safeguards. The rule comes as measles has resurfaced in parts of the state, though measles vaccination is not affected by this proposal. Public comment on the rule, filed under Proposed Rule 64D-3.046, is open through FLRules.org until September 14.

Pennsylvania officials, led by Gov. Josh Shapiro, announced this week that two unvaccinated people in Lancaster County had died from measles, calling them the state's first measles deaths in more than 35 years. Officials withheld details about the victims, citing family privacy, while Shapiro publicly criticized Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., accusing him of spreading vaccine misinformation that he said carries "real-life consequences."

Subsequent reporting complicated the initial claims. One victim was reportedly a newborn who could not have been vaccinated, and Lancaster County Coroner Stephen Diamantoni said the infant's cause of death was a ruptured spleen, not measles, though measles antibodies were detected postmortem. Diamantoni said no enlarged spleen — a rare but documented complication of measles — was found, and further analysis is pending. The discrepancy has fueled criticism of how officials characterized the deaths and drawn political scrutiny over the handling of public health messaging amid ongoing measles outbreaks.