In The News

California legislators propose new slate of COVID-19 vaccine laws

Excerpted from Calmatters

By Elizabeth Aguilera

The vaccine working group of Democratic legislators behind the proposals say their aim is to increase vaccination rates across all age groups, improve the state vaccine registration database and crack down on misinformation about the virus and the vaccine. 

Taken together, the adoption of these bills would make California an outlier among states — and give it the country’s strictest COVID-19 regulations. Other states are considering various mandates and legislation related to COVID-19, but none appear to have the coordination of this effort, steered by some of the most powerful legislators in Sacramento. 

“These bills all attempt to bring cohesion, consistency and clarity to our overall approach and response to the pandemic,” said Democratic Sen. Josh Newman of Fullerton, a member of the group. 

The bills: 

  • SB 871 would require all children 0 to 17 to get the COVID-19 vaccine to attend child care or school;
  • SB 866 would allow kids 12 to 17 to get the COVID-19 vaccine without parental consent;
  • SB 1479 would require schools to continue testing and to create testing plans;
  • SB 1018 would require online platforms to be more transparent about how information is pushed out to consumers;
  • SB 1464 would force law enforcement officials to enforce public health orders;
  • AB 1993 would require all employees, including independent contractors, to show proof of COVID-19 vaccine to work in California;
  • AB 1797 would make changes to the California Immunization Record Database;
  • AB 2098 would reclassify the sharing of COVID-19  “misinformation” by doctors and surgeons  as unprofessional conduct that would result in disciplinary action.

Read the full article here.