JANUARY 2020 • LONGISLANDPRESS.COM 27
Vaccine mandate opponents rally in Albany on Jan. 8, 2020.
CALLING THE SHOTS
PROPOSED FLU, HPV MANDATES IGNITE CONTROVERSY
By MICHELLE GABRIELLE CENTAMORE
Long Island parents were among an estimated 1,000 protesters who picketed on
Jan. 8 outside the New York State Capitol in Albany to rally against proposals that
would mandate students to get additional vaccines to attend school.
If passed, the bills would require an annual flu vaccine for minors from age 2 months
to 18 years and require the HPV vaccine for all children born on or after January
1, 2009. Supporters of the bills say the mandates are necessary for public health.
Opponents say the science is not settled as to the vaccines’ safety and the government
is interfering in parents’ medical decisions for their children.
”Many children in daycares and preschools are exposed to daily close contact with
other young and possibly ill children,” state Sen. Brad Hoylman (D-Manhattan) wrote
in his sponsor memo for the flu bill. “Often children of this age group are too young to
have been properly taught to cough properly and protect themselves from disease.
Vaccination is the best way to make sure our youth is protected.”
PRESS HEALTH
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