Oregon's new vaccine law to combat rising number of unvaccinated children

A new vaccine law in Oregon will mandate that parents consult a doctor or other health professional to qualify for a waiver of any of the required vaccines before their child can enter school as of March 1.

A one-hour video alternative will also be available that presents the scientific evidence on the risks and benefits of immunization.

"We want to make sure parents and guardians receive science-based information about the benefits and risks of vaccine," Stacy de Assis Matthews, school law coordinator for the state Public Health Division, told Bakersfield Now. "There is a lot of misinformation out there on the internet."

Oregon follows the lead of Washington and California, which have put the same law into effect. Ever since 2011 when Washington instituted the new decree, the rate of waivers for kids entering kindergarten has dropped 27 percent.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data show that 6.4 percent of kids entering kindergarten in Oregon for the 2012-2013 school year had a religious or philosophical exemption, amounting to 3,010 kids. This rate is among the highest in the nation and represented a 5.9 percent increase over the previous year.

The national rate has held steady around 1.8 percent, reports Shannon Stokley, associate director for science in the CDC's Immunization Services Division. She also detects a pattern among the parents who opt out of vaccination for their kids.

"People who tend to claim exemptions cluster geographically," she said. "People may be influenced by friends, or what they read on the Internet, what they see on the news."

She adds that communication between parent and doctor on the importance of these vaccines is key.

"I think education and communication between health care officials and parents is always a good thing," she said. "But I am concerned that this law, instead of promoting good communication, is more about an underhanded way to coerce people into vaccinating."