Ask Governor Newsom to Veto AB1797
Ask Governor Newsom to Veto AB1797:
AB1797 has passed both the Senate and Assembly house. It is now on the way to the Governors desk to be signed into law.
AB1797 Development of a state immunization registry (Weber)
Would merge the three CA Immunization Registry tracking systems to create one statewide system and all vaccines will be required to be entered into the CA Immunization Registry (CAIR). Schools and other entities would have access to all vaccine records, rather than just those of their students/patients or the particular vaccines required for school.
Talking Points for AB 1797
- Any private medical information should only be stored and shared with the express written permission of the patient or the parent or guardian of the patient. Currently, the only option for patients is to refuse to allow their personal medical information to be shared, however, the local health department and the State Department of Public Health may maintain access to the information. The CAIR2 database should be an opt in system.
- The risk of violating patient privacy is significant. There is a history of database breaches in California. Here are two recent examples of privacy breach in California:
- Just this year, the State Bar of California experienced a data breach of confidential information read here.
- In 2018, the California Department of Developmental Services notified 582,174 patients that their protected health information had potentially been compromised read here.
- The California Constitution gives each citizen an "inalienable right" to pursue and obtain "privacy.” Many other California laws protect the medical information of individuals.
- While the stated intention of this bill is to keep schools safe and open by tracking COVID-19 vaccination status, no state requirement for students to be vaccinated for COVID-19 exists at this time. Furthermore, children have a very low risk of severe disease or hospitalization from COVID-19 and multiple studies have shown that fewer than 5% of COVID cases in school came from within the school.
- Lastly, some patients want to get vaccinated, but they do not want their information in the CAIR2 system. To avoid being part of the database, they might choose to avoid vaccination, resulting in fewer people getting vaccinated.
- Vaccination records should remain private even in times of emergency.
- The government should be held to the same strict privacy laws as other organizations in California.
- The CA Immunization registry should be an opt-in registry, where I get to choose if I want my data included, not a required, lockable registry.
Read AB1797 here.
Ask Governor Newsom to Veto AB1797
Ask Governor Newsom to Veto AB1797:
AB1797 has passed both the Senate and Assembly house. It is now on the way to the Governors desk to be signed into law.
AB1797 Development of a state immunization registry (Weber)
Would merge the three CA Immunization Registry tracking systems to create one statewide system and all vaccines will be required to be entered into the CA Immunization Registry (CAIR). Schools and other entities would have access to all vaccine records, rather than just those of their students/patients or the particular vaccines required for school.
Talking Points for AB 1797
- Any private medical information should only be stored and shared with the express written permission of the patient or the parent or guardian of the patient. Currently, the only option for patients is to refuse to allow their personal medical information to be shared, however, the local health department and the State Department of Public Health may maintain access to the information. The CAIR2 database should be an opt in system.
- The risk of violating patient privacy is significant. There is a history of database breaches in California. Here are two recent examples of privacy breach in California:
- Just this year, the State Bar of California experienced a data breach of confidential information read here.
- In 2018, the California Department of Developmental Services notified 582,174 patients that their protected health information had potentially been compromised read here.
- The California Constitution gives each citizen an "inalienable right" to pursue and obtain "privacy.” Many other California laws protect the medical information of individuals.
- While the stated intention of this bill is to keep schools safe and open by tracking COVID-19 vaccination status, no state requirement for students to be vaccinated for COVID-19 exists at this time. Furthermore, children have a very low risk of severe disease or hospitalization from COVID-19 and multiple studies have shown that fewer than 5% of COVID cases in school came from within the school.
- Lastly, some patients want to get vaccinated, but they do not want their information in the CAIR2 system. To avoid being part of the database, they might choose to avoid vaccination, resulting in fewer people getting vaccinated.
- Vaccination records should remain private even in times of emergency.
- The government should be held to the same strict privacy laws as other organizations in California.
- The CA Immunization registry should be an opt-in registry, where I get to choose if I want my data included, not a required, lockable registry.
Read AB1797 here.