Mary Stephenson Su: Vaccinations protect everyone, if enough get them

Last week, the California Senate passed SB 277 which requires students to be vaccinated to attend school unless they have a medical exemption. As a mother of three children, I was elated. I worry about the low rates of vaccination in pockets of Stanislaus County. My children attend a Modesto preschool where only 76 percent of children are fully vaccinated. This is well below the 90 percent vaccination rate required to stop the spread of illnesses.

If whooping cough or meningitis came to our school, the low vaccination rate could make it the center of the next outbreak. This made me nervous about taking my infant to school events because she was too young to be vaccinated for things such as measles. Most people assume you are already required to have shots to attend school. They are unaware that it can be easier to get a Personal Belief Exemption than it is to get the required vaccinations. Parents have a right to make their child’s medical decisions, but we all have the responsibility to keep our schools safe from vaccine preventable diseases. Tell our Assembly members the school vaccination loophole must be closed.

This story was originally published May 20, 2015 at 12:09 PM with the headline "Mary Stephenson Su: Vaccinations protect everyone, if enough get them."