Required Vaccination Proposal In N.J. Irks Parents

Required Vaccination Proposal In N.J. Irks Parents
Reporting
Cindy Hsu TRENTON, N.J. (CBS) ― Children in New Jersey as young as 6 months old may soon be required by law to get a flu shot, making it the first state to require certain vaccinations, but parents aren't so thrilled about the news.

Lawmakers are preparing to vote on legislation that would require flu and pneumonia vaccinations for children in daycare or preschool as young as 6 months old, along with meningitis and whooping cough vaccination for children in the sixth grade.

Parents rallied against the plan Friday in Trenton.

"The government should not be dictating the toxins we have to inject into our children," said Sue Collins, a concerned parent.

"I don't think the safety is proven that when you put this many in the pipeline in their bloodstream that it is safe," said Amy Galarowicz of the Holistic Mom's Network.

Dr. Steven Stravinski, chief of pediatrics at Holy Name Hospital, disagrees. "The benefits of immunization vastly outweigh any risk that's associated with it," he said.

Stravinski said the four required vaccines are all available with no preservatives such as mercury, and many are unaware of how deadly something like the flu can be.

"Over 20,000 people die from influenza every year. Of that over 100 of those are children which doesn't seem like a very large number unless it's your child," he said.

The Department of Health had input from the Centers for Disease Control and the Federal Drug Administration and says the vaccine plan was "designed with the intent of reducing illness, hospitalization and deaths not only in children but to the community at large."

The Public Health Council will vote on the plan on Monday, it must then be approved by the New Jersey health commissioner and would go into effect September of 2008.

If the plan becomes law, parents can seek exemptions for their children for religious and medical reasons.