Protest in NJ over flu vaccine requirement

This Associated Press story on a protest yesterday in Trenton, NJ, regarding the state's expanded childhood immunization requirements has been distributed widely throughout the media. (It even earned a coveted place on the website of the widely-visited Drudge Report.)

The newly-enacted state requirements in New Jersey -- available here and effective as of this past September 1 -- include, among other vaccinations, that all children between 6-59 months attending day-care or preschool be vaccinated annually against influenza. This requirement mirrors the CDC recommendation for influenza vaccination, (which was recently expanded through age 18). New Jersey is the first state in the nation to require influenza vaccination in this population, a policy that has been widely supported by medical and public health organizations in the state and nationwide.

According the media coverage of the protest, those in attendance support a bill introduced in the state legislature that would allow the variously-termed 'philosophical,' 'personal-belief', or 'conscientious' exemptions to state vaccine requirements, available in approximately 20 states but not currently permitted in New Jersey. (Presently, only medical and religious exemptions are allowed in the state.)

The Newark Star-Ledger also sent reporters to cover the event, as did the Camden (NJ) Courier-Post. The Star-Ledger published an editorial arguing against the personal-belief exemption bill.