California allows children 12 years of age and older to be vaccinated without their parents’ consent.
Alabama allows such decisions at age 14, Oregon at age 15, Rhode Island and South Carolina at age 16. Washington, DC, has a lower limit of 11 years.
Senator Scott Weiner, who introduced the bill, argues that California already allows children over the age of 12 to be vaccinated against hepatitis B and HPV without parental consent, as well as treating sexually transmitted infections, substance abuse and mental disorders.
“Giving young people the autonomy to receive life-saving vaccines, regardless of their parents’ beliefs or work schedule, is essential to their physical and mental health,” he said.
They will not be excluded because the parents are negative
“It’s unconscious for a teenager to be excluded from the vaccine because a parent refuses or can not take their child to the vaccination facility.”
Currently in California, children between the ages of 12 and 17 cannot be vaccinated without the permission of their parents or guardians unless the vaccine is designed to prevent sexually transmitted infections.
Weiner’s bill would eliminate the parental requirement for this age group for any vaccine approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
This includes vaccinations against the corona virus, but reluctance and misinformation about vaccines can prevent vaccinations against measles and other infections, which can then spread to young people whose parents do not agree to be vaccinated, Weiner said.
