Arizona governor looks into vaccine bills as parliament weighs on exemptions



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AThe governor of rizona, Doug Ducey, refused to reveal his plans on Saturday for bills to be submitted to the legislature that would loosen the rules on vaccines in the state.

Instead of saying whether he would veto the measures, he reiterated his support for immunizing children against disease.

"As a general rule, I do not comment on legislation during the legislature," said Ducey at Washington Examiner. "Of course, when we talk about public health, I want to make sure our children are as safe and secure as possible and hopefully that's where the legislature is going to land."

Asked to clarify his position on vaccination, he replied: "I am in favor of vaccination, I have three boys, they have all been vaccinated."

Ducey, who has already said that Arizona should consider stricter rules against exemptions, made those comments in Washington, DC, at the annual meeting of the National Governors Association.

Arizona bills would provide a "religious exemption" for vaccines and force doctors to provide more tests and information on immunization.

The actions of the legislature controlled by the GOP to ease the rules on immunization come as Arizona has found an increase in the number of children who have not been vaccinated. This is also occurring in an area of ​​Oregon facing a measles outbreak due to low vaccination rates.

The outbreak prompted Washington Governor Jay Inslee, a Democrat, to declare a state of emergency, allowing officials to seek medical resources from other states. The epidemic is also prompting Congress to hold hearings on the importance of immunization.

The majority of Republicans on the Health and Social Services Committee of Arizona House on Friday approved three bills aimed at easing the requirements for vaccines. In Arizona, parents are already allowed to request personal belief exemptions for vaccines for K-12 children.

One of the measures envisaged would add an exemption for "religious belief" to this age group. It would also allow parents to not use vaccines for personal reasons, if their children are in preschool age. According to the proposal, parents would no longer need to sign a form from the state health service to obtain the exemption.

Another bill would provide patients with information about vaccine ingredients and their risks, including how people can complain if they have had a side effect after being vaccinated. The third bill states that physicians must provide patients with a blood test to determine if their children are immune to a particular disease.

Measles is very contagious but is prevented by the MMR vaccine. The so-called "anti-vax move" urged parents to avoid the vaccine, highlighting a belittling study from the 1990s suggesting that the vaccine, which also protects against mumps and rubella, was the cause of autism . Leading health officials said the vaccine did not cause autism and only caused mild side effects, such as short-term pain in the arm when the doctor inserted the needle. inside.

The United States has a National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program for the treatment of vaccine claims where, although rare, all serious complications of a range of vaccines occur. In 2018, government data indicates that more than 47,600 people reported adverse reactions, not all of which are serious.

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