URGENT CALIFORNIA: Bill clarification amendment needed to remove HPV requirement confusion
AB659 must be amended to remove the school HPV vaccine requirement, comments needed before March 15
Our Stand: At-A-Glance
- AB 659, which originally required the HPV vaccine for California public and private school 8-12th graders, and then was amended to require it of all public higher education establishment enrollees in California, passed out of the Assembly Health Committee with a 10-1-3 vote.
- What remains in the bill is a statement state policy that all under 26 year olds are expected to get the HPV vaccine in order to enter 8th grade in California public or private schools and all public higher education establishments. While this is a "better bill" it still has flaws which will cause unintended consequences.
- AVFCA still opposes the bill in its current form because the language stating that the HPV vaccine is expected, is confusing and does not make it clear that it is not required for 8th grade or college/university entry. AVFCA is in communication with the author's office and assembly members to work towards further amending the bill so that eiter this entire section is removed or that the wording is changed and rather than being "expected," the HPV vaccine is recommended or encouraged.In the past few months, has been amended a lot requires 8-12th graders to get vaccinated against Human Papillomavirus (HPV), a sexually transmitted infection (STI), to attend public or private school, starting January 1 2024.
- Please write your local Assembly Member to request Asm Aguiar-Curry remove the HPV vaccine expectation or change the language. If possible please personalize the body of the email so that policy makers hear your voice and story.