Although California passed this law quite recently, the appearance of the coronavirus might force some changes in the law’s provisions. No one had heard of coronavirus, when this law was passed in 2015.
Provisions included in the 2015 law
All daycare workers in California must get vaccinated for measles, whooping cough and flu. The term “worker” applies to both paid employees and volunteers. This law applies to any facility that cares for young children during the day. That would include both daycare centers and family daycare homes.
The facility at which the vaccinated workers carry out their responsibilities must keep a record of each worker’s series of vaccinations. That record would be examined, if a child at the facility were to become infected with measles, whooping cough or flu.
Possible reasons for an exemption
A day care worker might be excused from the need to get all of the named vaccinations, if that same worker’s doctor has explained in writing the reason for the requested exemption. It could be that the patient/worker was allergic to some ingredient in the vaccine.
Other possible reasons for an exemption would include a weak immune system or the fact that the worker was undergoing chemotherapy. A third excuse could apply to female workers. Any one of them might be pregnant.
Workers that had already acquired immunity could offer proof of that fact by providing a doctor’s statement. Later, Personal Injury Lawyers in El Monte know that if a worker’s claim to have immunity proved incorrect, then the person that had made the fraudulent claim could face legal consequences.
Rules for the children at each day care facility
Following the passage of the 2015 law, each child at a daycare facility must be immunized against measles, whooping cough and flu. Obviously, immunization to the flu must be secured each year, because each year’s flu shot is different.
When might this law be changed?
The law might be expanded to include a vaccination against coronavirus, if such a vaccination became available to the public. Of course, at this point no one knows if the new vaccination would be something for both children and adults.
In addition, at this point in time, no one knows for sure what ingredients might be used in such a vaccine. A listing of those ingredients would need to be made available to doctors, in order to avoid the occurrence of allergic reactions.
Meanwhile, all day care centers should operate like the schools. If some member of the staff or some student were to get the new virus (coronavirus), then that same facility would need to shut-down temporarily. It could not re-open until the passage of 14 days, when it would become known if anyone else had become infected.