Vaccination showdown: Lawmaker, health experts stand up to Colorado Gov. Jared Polis

A freshman Democratic lawmaker insists he won't back down from a bill that would make it harder for Colorado parents to get vaccine exemptions for their kids, saying it will up to Gov. Jared Polis to veto it if it reaches his desk.

A freshman Democratic lawmaker insists he won’t back down from a bill that would make it harder for Colorado parents to get vaccine exemptions for their kids, saying it will be up to Gov. Jared Polis to veto it if it reaches his desk.

“This isn’t a statement for me. It’s a real issue,” said Rep. Kyle Mullica, D-Northglenn. “Experts tell me it’s not a matter of if but when a measles outbreak takes hold in Colorado. … And if a kid dies, people are going to ask us why didn’t you do something.”

The Colorado Hospital Association and other health care experts across Colorado also responded strongly Friday to comments from the governor — first reported by Colorado Public Radio — that he didn’t support the current bill, House Bill 1312, to make some vaccination exemptions more difficult for parents to get.

“On behalf of Children’s Hospital Colorado, I was disappointed to see the governor’s comments this morning,” said Jessica Cataldi, a pediatrician who specializes in infectious diseases. “The multiple measles outbreaks across the country represent a public health crisis that must be addressed. I hope the governor will reconsider his position.”

Mullica’s bill would require parents to visit a state health department office and fill out a form in person the first time they request a personal or religious vaccine exemption for a child entering public school. Currently they need only provide written notice to the school district upon registration.

That in-person registration requirement is a problem for Polis.

The governor’s office said in a statement that Polis is working with the bill’s sponsors to remove the requirement because “he wants to ensure fairness for parents, especially those that live in rural areas that would need to drive up to an hour to get such exemption.”

But Mullica told The Denver Post he’s done negotiating.

His original bill would have eliminated nonmedical vaccine exemptions in Colorado. Mullica amended it after Polis made clear he wouldn’t agree to that. The lawmaker said the current version of the bill is already a less aggressive and potentially less effective option.

“We made a lot of compromises,” Mullica said. “Changing it like (Polis wants) kind of keeps us at status quo and doesn’t accomplish the goal of formalizing that process.”

The showdown over Colorado’s vaccination exemption process came two days after the national Centers for Disease Control said the number of reported measles cases in the U.S. is the highest it has been since the disease was declared eliminated in 2000. The CDC has recorded 695 measles cases in 22 states this year, including one adult case in Colorado.

“This current outbreak is deeply troubling, and I call upon all health care providers to assure patients about the efficacy and safety of the measles vaccine,” CDC Director Robert Redfield said in a statement. “I encourage all Americans to adhere to CDC vaccine guidelines in order to protect themselves, their families and their communities from measles and other vaccine preventable diseases.”

The CDC ranks Colorado at the bottom for kindergarten vaccinations, with a rate of 88.7 percent. But there are schools in Boulder County that report vaccination rates to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment below 50 percent.

“We need to do more to protect our children and keep schools safe. Taking children to the doctor for vaccinations takes time and effort. Why should opting out be easier,” Community Immunity co-founder Lindsay Diamond said in a statement. “We should not wait for an outbreak where innocent people suffer because the legislature failed to act.”

But hundreds of parents opposed Mullica’s bill at a House hearing this month, many saying it is intended to harass and bully them into vaccinating. Reasons for opposing vaccines range from religious to concerns about whether they’re really safe.

Polis’ opposition to removing vaccine exemptions sets him apart from other Democratic leaders.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee is expected to sign a bill that removes his state’s personal exemption for the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine. In 2015, then-California Gov. Jerry Brown signed a law that took away personal and religious exemptions, and the state is working on another law that would tighten its medical exemption rules.

New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio declared a state of emergency after a measles outbreak started in Brooklyn and threatened residents in four ZIP codes with $1,000 fines if they continued to refuse to vaccinate.

On the other side of the aisle, President Donald Trump also weighed in Friday. He told reporters outside the White House that people in places such as New York “have to get the shot. The vaccinations are so important.”

Local, state and federal health officials all consider the measles vaccine to be safe for almost all children and effective at conferring an immunity of about 97 percent after two doses. It’s normally given at ages 1 and 5, but the shot can be given as early as six months during an outbreak. Before the MMR vaccine was introduced, the CDC estimates that about 4 million Americans got the disease each year, 48,000 of them were hospitalized and 400 to 500 died.

“I want people to take this seriously,” Mullica said. “This is a public health issue, and it’s about the safety of our kids. We can’t put this on the back burner.”