A newly introduced legislation would provide school districts access to California Immunization Registry to verify a student’s COVID-19 vaccination status.
It was announced on Friday by Assemblymember Dr. Akilah Weber,(D-La Mesa), along with San Diego Unified leaders to expand access to COVID-19 records.
"This makes it very easy for the school districts, it makes it easy for the families. So we know who is out there who has their immunization, who needs their immunization," said Assemblymember Dr. Weber.
The registry can be accessed by school districts to verify if students received state-mandated vaccines against diseases such as measles or mumps.
The bill also requires doctors and public health centers to actually input vaccination data into the immunization registry, and include the patient’s race and ethnicity. According to Assemblymember Dr. Weber, that data is important to make sure resources can get to the communities who need them most.
It comes as the San Diego Unified School District appeals a lawsuit over its vaccine mandate. In December, a judge ruled that the district's mandate, which does not permit religious or personal belief exemptions, contradicts state law.
San Diego Superior Court Judge, Judge Meyer cited an amendment to Senate Bill No. 277 in 2015, at which time there were a total of 10 vaccines that children are required to take in order to attend school in person. The legislature removed the ability for parents to use a personal beliefs exemption for those shots.
According to Meyer, if a mandate was made without legislative approval, it should be done at the state level and would need to include a personal beliefs exemption.
The San Diego County’s Health and Human Services Agency reported 2,736 new COVID-19 infections and 29 deaths as hospitalizations dropped by 91 patients. As of Friday, the cumulative coronavirus case and death totals 708,770 infections and 4,786 deaths.
Health officials warned case counts may be higher due to the increasing popularity and availability of home antigen tests, results of which are not reported to the county.
Nearly 2.88 million, or 91.4 percent, of San Diego County residents aged 5 and older are partially vaccinated, and more than 2.53 million, or 80.4 percent, are fully vaccinated.
If the bill passes the legislature, it is expected to take effect by the start of the next school year.
