NO-EXEMPTION VACCINE BILL ON THE FAST TRACK IN NY

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NO-EXEMPTION VACCINE BILL ON THE FAST TRACK IN NY

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We were sent the following information by New Yorkers for Vaccination

Information and Choice (NYVIC). They have called for an ALERT on proposed

NY legislation affecting vaccine mandates for students and others.

According to them, this is a major crisis that will take away your

right to

choose what vaccines to give your children and when. It also involves

mandated vaccines for adults. If you choose, it is your chance to be

involved. I am sending this to all our subscribers nationwide, you may have

relatives and friends in

New York. Moreover, what happens in New York may well be repeated in

every

other state over the next few months or years. I don't want to leave you

out.

A new bill, A10942, was introduced into the State Assembly and referred to

the Assembly Health Committee on May 7, 2008. It will be used to

amend many

of the existing vaccination laws.

You can see more information at http://nyvic.org/nyvic/ and at

http://www.mykidsmychoice.com/ (click on Albany Rally link).

You may read the bill summary here:

http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?bn=A10942

Be aware that the bill is carefully worded to sound much less dramatic

than

it actually is. I had to read it several times to " get " what they were

saying.

BACKGROUND

Assembly Bill 10942 would make all vaccines the Center for Disease

Control &

Prevention (CDC) recommends MANDATORY for all children in order to attend

school, and for the first time vaccines would become MANDATORY for infants

and toddlers.

Alternative proposed legislation, called A5468/S3031, would give

individuals

a right to a philosophical exemption from vaccine mandates.

Here are a few more features of the proposed bill:

* Elected New York representatives would no longer determine the

schedule of

vaccines to attend school; decisions made by the federal Advisory

Committee

on Immunization Practices (ACIP) would automatically become mandatory.

* All children - infants and toddlers included - in New York would be

required to get all vaccines recommended by the ACIP and according to the

ACIP schedule.

* All children in New York up to age 18 would be required to get

annual flu

shots.

* All girls in New York would be required to get a human papilloma virus

shot.

* All junior high school children and college students would be

required to

get meningococcal shots.

* Vaccines would be provided WITHOUT parental consent being required.

* Doctors would be required to issue certificates for every shot given and

parents would be required to maintain the records and provide them to

school

and other authorities.

It was not mentioned in the Alert, but upon reading the Summary it was

clear

that vaccines would also be required for all adults in healthcare and

long-term care facilities - both the personnel and the residents. And,

again, their vaccination status would be reported and tracked.

IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED:

This bill is fast tracked for a vote on TUESDAY, JUNE 10, so the NYVIC

asks

you to please take two minutes of your time MONDAY to make a phone call to

each of the following:

Governor Paterson (518) 474-8390

Speaker Sheldon Silver (518) 455-3791

Your message:

'I AM OPPOSED TO ASSEMBLY BILL 10942 AND

IN FAVOR OF A5468/S3031'

(A5468/S3031 is the one allowing philosophical exemption).

FURTHER ACTION:

If you wish, please write your Assembly Member and members of the Assembly

Health Committee, urging them to vote AGAINST bill A10942.

Find your assembly representatives here:

http://www.assembly.state.ny.us/mem/

Some 'talking points' are:

* This is an un-funded mandate for a never-ending list of vaccines. In

other

words, the state (you, the taxpayer) will have to come up with the

money for

the vaccines when state social service agencies provide them to patients

unable to pay.

* The bill would take the power to make decisions about vaccine mandates

away from the state legislature and give it to the federal government. Ask

your legislators if they want to surrender their responsibilities to an

agency of the federal government.

* In the future, there may be controversial or objectionable vaccines that

they, the legislators, would not want to give their children - if they

approve this bill, how would they be able to protect their own child from

such a vaccine?

* Critics of vaccine mandates argue that federal health agencies do

not use

appropriate criteria for making vaccine recommendations, that the

different

sources of recommendations are not uniform nor in agreement, and that

vaccine recommendations were never intended to be mandated by law.

* If bill A10942 passes, the day may come when a new vaccine will be so

risky and controversial that the majority of NY parents will be opposed to

it, but there will be nothing they can do to stop it from being

mandated for

their children.