Students with a personal belief exemption obtained before 2016 won’t be required to get vaccinated until seventh grade. And eliminating personal belief exemptions led more kids to seek “medical” exemptions from a physician on the grounds that they were unusually susceptible to harm from the shots. For example, 40% of students at one small school in Sebastopol, Calif., obtained medical exemptions, and it strains credulity that they all have conditions that make vaccination dangerous for them. Schools with vaccination rates this low are putting their students at risk. And any doctor helping parents get around vaccination requirements is endangering public health by helping to create pockets of resistance to vaccination in their communities.

Source: Los Angeles Times August 15, 2017 12:00 UTC