CALIFORNIA FOCUS
FOR RELEASE: TUESDAY, MARCH 31, 2020, OR THEREAFTER
BY THOMAS D. ELIAS
FOR RELEASE: TUESDAY, MARCH 31, 2020, OR THEREAFTER
BY THOMAS D. ELIAS
“JUST HOW ANTI-VAXX
ARE THE NEWSOMS?”
While
the world waits for someone, somewhere, to develop a vaccine against the
coronavirus, it would be nice if residents in America’s most populous state
could be sure their governor really is on board with vaccinations.
There is some reason to doubt
he is. It’s true that Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a legislative bill intended to
close loopholes allowing some children to avoid vaccinations required for
public school enrollment. And he’s demanded Californians take many coronavirus
precautions, from closing all bars to forcing over-65s to stay home. But…
Newsom
only okayed last year’s SB 276 after intervening twice in the legislative
process to make the measure far weaker than the original version proposed by
Democratic state Sen. Richard Pan of Sacramento, a pediatrician.
For
anyone who doubts the impact of vaccinations on diseases like measles, rubella,
mumps, polio and whooping cough, diseases that once could become epidemic, a
look at the spread of the coronavirus might be illuminating.
Without
a vaccine to hinder it, this virus sped around the world in two months, causing
personal and financial panic. It halted most travel to Asia and Europe, the
government warns Americans against cruises, sports events are cancelled, many
restaurants are closed and thousands wear surgical masks.
All
this for a virus whose death toll is less severe than it was from some diseases
for which vaccines are now well established.
Last
year, Newsom did as much as he could afford politically to ease the impact of
SB 276 on anti-vaccination parents who believe the almost certainly fictitious
side-effect of autism that’s claimed by discredited anti-vaxx leaders. Those
parents say this supposed occasional side effect outweighs any risk of disease
epidemics.
Today’s
stock market and multiple deaths from the coronavirus suggest otherwise.
Before SB 276, hundreds, maybe
thousands, of parents located the few doctors who push the unproven autism
claims and charged about $300 each to sign medical exemptions from the
vaccination rules.
Pan
sought to close this loophole by having state health officials vet all such
waivers, approving only those for children with organ transplants and a few
other conditions.
Newsom
bridled. Last summer, he said, “I believe in immunizations; I do not subscribe
to their point of view broadly. I back immunizations, however I do have
concerns about a bureaucrat making a decision that is very personal…I think
that’s just something we need to pause and think about.” Does this verbal mush
mean he thinks vaccinations belong in the realm of personal choice, not public health
necessity? He won’t say.
Newsom
essentially forced Pan to revise his bill so vetting will apply only to doctors
who sign more than five waivers in any year. That seemed to satisfy Newsom –
until late August, when he weighed in again, causing SB 276 to be further
weakened. It no longer requires doctors to certify under penalty of perjury
that what they’re saying is accurate. If they won’t do that, why believe them
at all?
Then,
in February, Newsom’s “First Partner,” wife Jennifer Siebel Newsom, told
anti-vaxx activists in Sacramento that “I think there needs to be more
conversation around spreading out vaccines, around only giving children the
vaccines that are most essential.” Does the former actress believe she knows
which ones fit that bill? Does the governor share her belief?
The
First Partner asked the activists not to post her remarks on social media, but
they did it anyway.
A
Newsom spokesperson later noted that the severely weakened law he signed is the
position of his administration, but he has not pushed the health department to
set up either the required vetting system or any oversight.
Pan
told a reporter, “This should absolutely be happening now.”
What’s
more, once a coronavirus vaccine arrives, it should be added to the required
list to reduce risks from that sometimes deadly micro-organism.
It adds
up to a situation where the governor talks strongly about combating the
coronavirus, but has gone easy on other diseases that could spread even faster
than the new threat, including some with far greater risks of death or brain
damage for those they infect.
Which
opens the question of how badly he actually wants a coronavirus vaccine.
-30-
Email Thomas Elias at tdelias@aol.com. His book, "The Burzynski
Breakthrough: The Most Promising Cancer Treatment and the Government’s Campaign
to Squelch It," is now available in a soft cover fourth edition. For more
Elias columns, go to www.californiafocus.net
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