State Won’t Change Its Vaccination Law

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – Mississippi won’t be changing its childhood vaccination law, which is one of the strongest in the country.

House Bill 130 died Thursday because it wasn’t brought up for a vote before a legislative deadline.

Mississippi and West Virginia are the only two states that don’t allow people to avoid vaccinating their children because of religious or personal beliefs.

The bill filed in Mississippi this year originally would have created a personal-beliefs exemption. The House Education Committee changed the bill Feb. 3 to say a physician could grant a medical exemption for vaccinations without seeking approval from the state Health Department.

Education Committee Chairman John Moore says he let the bill die Thursday because the Health Department is approving more medical exemptions now than it did in previous years.