Meningitis vaccine bill stalls on select file

A bill that would have required students to receive two meningitis vaccinations was bracketed Feb. 12, making it unlikely to be debated again this session.

Introduced by Omaha Sen. Bob Krist, LB18 would have required that every student be vaccinated for meningitis upon entering the seventh grade and again at age 16.

Krist said that vaccinating adolescents and young adults would have health benefits for the population at large.

“Teen meningitis vaccination can also protect high risk individuals through reduced carriage of bacteria and herd immunity,” he said. “Keeping our teens up-to-date with vaccines is the best defense.”

North Platte Sen. Mike Groene said that the low number of meningitis cases does not warrant a mandatory vaccine program. The state Department of Health and Human Services had no reported cases of meningitis in 2014, he said.

“We have no problem. There is no panic situation in Nebraska that rises to the level of a health crisis,” he said. “Our present system [of education] is working well without the heavy hand of government mandates.”

Groene introduced an amendment to strike any requirement for students to receive the vaccine. Instead, it would have required public and private schools to provide information to students’ parents or guardians on the causes and symptoms of meningitis, how the disease spreads and where people can obtain more information about vaccination.

Henderson Sen. Curt Friesen supported the amendment.

“I think as more information comes forward in the future, we should look at it again,” he said. “As the research goes on, vaccines will become more effective and won’t have some of the side effects that they can have.”

Papillion Sen. Jim Smith opposed the Groene amendment, saying that the Legislature should err on the side of public health.

“I personally believe that there’s a risk to public health,” Smith said. “Some may oppose [LB18] because of the fiscal note and that there is a cost to government, but I do not believe we can escape the cost to government.”

The amendment failed on a 19-28 vote.

Groene introduced another amendment that would have allowed a parent or adult student to refuse any vaccine for philosophical reasons. Current statute allows the opt-out only for religious reasons.

Omaha Sen. Ernie Chambers opposed the amendment, saying that it would significantly undermine current public health protections in state statute.

“Sometimes we can become so eager to do something on a bill that we mess up an entire system put in place,” he said. “The state has the right and responsibility to protect a child.”

Krist then filed a motion to bracket the bill by unanimous consent until June 5, 2015. The body obliged.

The motion effectively ends debate on LB18 for the 2015 session.