The New Brunswick legislature in Fredericton. (Image: Brad Perry)
Public hearings are being held in Fredericton on proposed legislation which would make vaccinations mandatory for all children attending public schools or daycares in New Brunswick.
Dr. Serge Melanson, president of the New Brunswick Medical Society, told an all-party legislative committee Tuesday that public engagement should continue even after Bill 39 becomes law.
“To see, in fact, what were the unintended consequences that no one saw coming. Did we see schooling being impacted by a lot of kids and a lot of families negatively because of this,” said Melanson.
Melanson also noted there are no guarantees vaccinations will be effective for everyone.
“We need to keep in mind that although the mortality rates, so the amount of people that an illness like this can actually kill or seriously harm, is proportionally small, I think the impact to society as a whole is quite significant,” he said.
Melanson applauded efforts by public health, especially during the recent measles outbreak in Saint John, and added it is important to support them at all times and not just during a crisis period.
“Crisis periods are when they’re the most strapped for resources and they’re the most run off their feet,” he said. “When we’re in a bit of a lull and things seem to be pretty decent, that may be the time to double down on education around vaccinations and such things.”
Proposed Law Is ‘Problematic’: U.S. Pediatrician
Not everyone who spoke at Tuesday’s hearings agrees with mandatory vaccinations for all school children.
One of them is Dr. Bob Sears, a licensed pediatrician who is practicing in California. During his presentation, Sears outlined several reasons why he says the proposed law is “problematic.”
“First, this law is unnecessary because there is no significant increase in diseases in this province or in Canada as a whole,” said Sears. “There’s no health emergency.”
Sears said the status quo of voluntary immunization and proper quarantine measures have helped to keep measles and other diseases under control.
“An essential requirement for any law that infringes directly on the rights of a portion of your citizens is that the status quo isn’t working, that what’s currently in place isn’t working,” he said.
Sears also said the new law will not work because most vaccines do not prevent the spread of disease.
In the case of measles, Sears said nearly every outbreak is started by an adult and most cases involve older children or adults.
“This is why mandating vaccines for school attendants won’t stop these small outbreaks of measles,” he said.
“Even if every school child has a vaccine, there are simply too many adults in school as well and in every city who can catch and spread measles and we’ll continue to have these outbreaks. Kicking the few kids who don’t vaccinate out of school won’t change this.”
Sears also said the current vaccine schedule has not been proven to be safe and could harm some children.
The pediatrician said he is not against vaccines but does not think they should be forced on people.
“A law that mandates unvaccinated children must stay home and labels children whose parents embrace a natural approach to their medical care as unclean, unsafe and unsuited to be allowed in public school is a most restrictive and inappropriate use of police powers,” he said.
According to an LA Times article from June of 2019, Sears has twice been accused of negligence by writing invalid vaccination exemption letters for children which were “without medical basis.”
The hearings are expected to continue until Thursday.
With files from Allan Dearing and Brad Perry
