New Jersey is the first state in the nation to take this step and many parents are unhappy with the mandate as they feel the decision should be the parent’s and not the states. Hundreds of parents and activists rallied outside the New Jersey Statehouse in Trenton on Thursday to demonstrate against the mandate and show support for a bill that would allow parents to opt out of the mandatory vaccines for their children.
Louise Habakus, one of the organizers said, "This is not an anti-vaccine rally — it's a freedom of choice rally. This one-size-fits-all approach is really very anti-American. I have a really big problem with mandatory flu shots in this country. We need to have a choice."
New Jersey’s policy was approved by the state's Public Health Council last December and was to take effect this fall. It recommends that children from 6 months to 5 years old who attend a child-care center or preschool have until Dec. 31 to receive the flu vaccine, along with a pneumococcal vaccine.
New Jersey's Health Department said in a statement, "Vaccines not only protect the child being vaccinated but also the general community and the most vulnerable individuals within the community.”
Assemblywoman Charlotte Vandervalk, one of the speakers at the rally said, "The right to informed consent is so basic. Parents have a right to decide for their own children what is injected in their bodies."
Parents are rallying for a "conscientious objectors" clause added to the bill which would allow parents who have moral objections exemptions from the vaccine. State policy allows medical and religious exemptions to all mandatory vaccinations though these have often been refused by health authorities. Vandervalk said 19 other states allow conscientious exemptions like those envisioned in her bill.
New Jersey is against the legislation saying, "Broad exemptions to mandatory vaccination weaken the entire compliance and enforcement structure." Dr. Tina Tan of the New Jersey State Department of Health said, "If we allow parents to pick and choose what vaccines to give kids, we will potentially run the risk of weakening the public health of the entire community.
"In light of New Jersey's special traits, the highest number of children possible must receive vaccines to protect them and others," the department said, referring to New Jersey’s high population density and many recently arrived immigrants making it particularly vulnerable to vaccine-preventable diseases.
Activists say vaccinations for certain highly dangerous diseases, such as polio were acceptable but feel the state went too far in requiring flu shots.
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