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The researchers reported that the law had a positive effect on vaccination rates throughout California.
Following the implementation of the law, the proportion of parents of children who received all the required vaccines increased to 92.1% in 2017-2018, compared to 92.8% in 2015-2016.
The results were published online on October 29 in the journal pediatrics.
To get a ground assessment of law enforcement, the researchers interviewed 40 health workers representing about half of California's local health jurisdictions.
Public health officials have expressed concern that parents opposed to the vaccine will be denied personal belief exemptions for their children and are currently seeking doctors willing to issue medical exemptions for a fee, Mohanty said.
Many of these medical exemptions cite conditions that are not generally considered barriers to immunization by US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, such as a family history of allergies or autoimmune disorders. said Mohanty.
However, these conditions are based on the statutory wording of the law, she said.
The number of medical exemptions issued has not yet reached the level of exemptions from personal beliefs claimed before the adoption of the law, which for the 2015-2016 school year was about 2.4%, said Mohanty.
But if nothing has been done, the rapid increase in medical exemptions could weaken vaccine protection for schoolchildren, said Democratic Senator Richard Pan, pediatrician and author of California law.
"They threaten the immunity of the community and threaten the health of all children," said Pan about the exemptions.
The anti-vaccine parent groups seem to share lists of doctors willing to issue medical exemptions for a fee, Pan said.
"It's a very small number, but it's all it takes, right?" said Pan, who wrote an editorial accompanying the new study. "They are asking for $ 500 or more for these exemptions, so they really get what they pay for."
The study reported that some of these doctors have been brought before the California Medical Board for charges of ethics.
But Pan suggested a simpler solution. He would like to change the California law so that public health officials have the power to revoke the power of doctors to issue medical exemptions.
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