From the Texas Medical Association:
Senate Bill 1669 by Sen. Bob Hall (R-Edgewood) would make every single required, life-saving vaccination in Texas a mere suggestion. This includes for schoolchildren, employees of health care facilities, the elderly in long-term care facilities, and toddlers in child care. Every person, every vaccine – optional.
SB 1669 will set Texas back decades, if not more, when vaccination rates plummet and infectious diseases have the opportunity to spread unchecked, potentially jeopardizing the lives of Texans.
SB 1669 will crater the Texas economy when once-eliminated contagious diseases return, forcing the shutdown of businesses that are just beginning to rebound from the global COVID-19 recession. Schools will be forced to close, stranding children without vital education and social development. Elderly loved ones will sit neglected and alone in their residential facilities.
SB 1669 will maroon immunocompromised Texans at home and rob them of their livelihoods and individual liberties. It simply will not be safe to be around anyone who is not vaccinated.
Here are the details:
ARTICLE 2. VACCINATION MANDATES PROHIBITED
SECTION 2.01. Amends Section 25.002(a), Education Code, as follows:
(a) Deletes existing text requiring the parent or other person with legal control of a child
under a court order or the school district in which the child most recently attended school,
if the parent or other person enrolls the child in a public school, to furnish to the school
district a record showing that the child has the immunizations as required under Section
38.001, in the case of a child required under that section to be immunized, proof as
required by that section showing that the child is not required to be immunized, or proof
that the child is entitled to provisional admission under that section and under rules
adopted under that section.
SRC-MMN, DLL S.B. 1669 87(R) Page 6 of 11
SECTION 2.02. Amends the heading to Section 38.001, Education Code, to read as follows:
Sec. 38.001. RECOMMENDED IMMUNIZATIONS.
SECTION 2.03. Amends Section 38.001(b-1), Education Code, as follows:
(b-1) Requires the Department of State Health Services (DSHS) each year to prepare a
list of the immunizations DSHS recommends for school-age children, rather than a list of
immunizations required under this section for admission to public schools and of any
additional immunizations DSHS recommends. Prohibits a school district or a school,
including a private school, from requiring any immunizations as a condition of admission
to or attendance at an elementary or secondary school.
SECTION 2.04. Amends Sections 38.019(a) and (b), Education Code, as follows:
(a) Requires a school district that maintains an Internet website to post prominently on
the website a list, in English and Spanish, of:
(1) any immunizations or vaccines recommended for public school students by
the DSHS; and
(2) health clinics in the district that offer the influenza vaccine, to the extent those
clinics are known to the district.
Deletes text requiring a school district that maintains an Internet website to post
prominently on the website a list of the immunizations required for admission to public
school by rules of DSHS adopted under Section 38.001 and a link to the DSHS internet
website where a person may obtain information relating to the procedures for claiming an
exemption from the immunization requirements of Section 38.001.
(b) Requires that the list of recommended immunizations or vaccines under Subsection
(a)(1) include the influenza vaccine. Deletes existing text requiring that the list of
recommended immunizations or vaccines under Subsection (a)(2) include the influenza
vaccine, unless DSHS requires the influenza vaccine for admission to public school.
SECTION 2.05. Amends the heading to Section 51.933, Education Code, to read as follows:
Sec. 51.933. IMMUNIZATION INFORMATION.
SECTION 2.06. Amends Section 51.933(a), Education Code, as follows:
(a) Prohibits an institution of higher education from requiring students or applicants for
admission to be immunized against any communicable disease.
Deletes text authorizing an institution of higher education to require applicants for
admission to be immunized against diphtheria, rubeola, rubella, mumps, tetanus, and
poliomyelitis, except as provided in Subsection (d) (relating to providing that no form of
immunization is required for a person’s admission to an institution of higher education
under certain circumstances ).
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