Spencer Finley

Staff Writer

sjf5814@psu.edu

On  July 1st, 2021, PA state Representative Dan Frankel released a memorandum expressing his intent to draft legislation which would allow minors aged 14 and over to receive any vaccination approved by the United States Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, ACIP, if they chose to regardless of what their parents or legal guardians say.

On August 31st, Frankel and a handful of other representatives released a full bill which would allow those minors desirous of the vaccine the ability to receive a shot without approval from their parent or guardian. Although the importance of vaccinating all Americans has been highlighted by the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic, this bill would allow minors to override parental objections to receive vaccination for other diseases in addition.

Representative Frankel’s bill, the PA House Bill 1818, states that a minor over the age of 14, “May give effective consent to receive a vaccine if the vaccine is recommended by the United States Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.”

 Vaccines approved by the ACIP include vaccines protecting against Anthrax, Cholera, COVID-19, Hepatitis A and B, the flu, Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (MMR), Polio, Smallpox, the chickenpox, and other infectious diseases. 

 In the memorandum, Frankel specifically addresses the point that his bill would not just affect minors seeking COVID-19 vaccines but would also affect minors looking to receive any ACIP-approved vaccine, “As the commonwealth works to effectively vaccinate Pennsylvanians for COVID-19, we must remember the importance of other immunizations as well, and give older minors the ability to access all recommended immunizations.” 

Frankel said that the United States has been experiencing a rise in measles cases over the past few years, hitting people under the age of 18 particularly hard; in 2018, the number of measles cases in the U.S was the greatest it has been since its eradication in 2000.

While Frankel explained how the bill would combat the recent rise in measles cases, he said that a number of unvaccinated students may have desired a shot, but were prevented from seeking vaccinations because of parental objections.

Frankel’s rationale here is that a number of teenagers who may want to be vaccinated against a preventable disease, which although was once considered eradicated but which has recently experienced a resurgence, is significant enough to warrant allowing minors to override the objections of their parents or legal guardians to receive a shot. He goes on to point out that adolescents are a group particularly vulnerable to infectious diseases.

“The lifestyle of teenagers puts them at great risk for communicable diseases like COVID-19,” Frankel said. “They go to summer camps, spend time in youth groups, on sports teams, or in crowded classrooms. They (teenagers) are also more likely to fill jobs with high exposure to the public.”