An Act Requiring Immunizations Against Preventable Diseases – Representative Driscoll

Bill H.471, submitted by Representative William Driscoll Jr., proposes to add two additional vaccines, the HPV vaccine and the Hepatitis A vaccine, to the list of required vaccines to attend school in Massachusetts. This bill is unnecessary and destructive. The costs, including loss of access to education, will far outweigh any benefits for these low-risk infections. At a population level, Hepatitis A and HPV are low risk and are not transmitted in the school setting. Parents have free access to these vaccines if they, in conjunction with their physicians, feel they are necessary. Losing access to education is a far larger health threat to children in our Commonwealth. Especially in the context of ongoing pan-demic related learning losses and our current childhood mental health crisis, we should be improving educational supports across our Commonwealth, not instituting new mandates which will limit access.