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Parents Threaten To Leave California Over State's Childhood Vaccination Law

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — Nearly all students in California will have to be vaccinated if they want to attend school after a bill was signed into law on Tuesday.

As opponents decide their next step to try and repeal the ban on vaccine personal beliefs exemptions, some are wondering how the new law will be implemented.

Opponents of the new law that removes the personal belief exemption from childhood vaccinations say they aren't going anywhere.

East Bay mother Kadhi Brott and a few others braved the heat on Wednesday to protest Senate Bill 277 a day after it was signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown.

"I want somebody to investigate why children are so chronically ill, why children get such severe reactions to vaccines, and why there isn't an investigation to understand?" she said.

Despite studies showing vaccines are safe and the debunking of a study linking autism to vaccinations, Brott says many parents like her are planning on taking their kids out of school or even out of state while others work to repeal it.

"I, personally, will move out of state because I would like a career for myself," she said.

Parents willing to follow the new law to keep their kids in school so they can have a career for themselves don't need to get all vaccines at once, according to vaccine proponent Dr. Dean Blumberg with UC Davis Pediatrics.

"All schools can accept kids provisionally," he said. "So there are provisional acceptance, which means that they have to demonstrate that they are getting started on their vaccines."

While there is nothing medically wrong with getting multiple vaccines at once, he says some parents will be apprehensive.

"I believe most doctors will work with parents to get the kids vaccinated, including following alternative schedules, if that's what they require. I don't recommend those alternative schedules, but in the end I want the kids immunized," he said.

The law will apply to students attending school in the 2016-17 school year, meaning most will have just over a year to get the vaccines.

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