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| 2 | 2 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 4022 FILED ON: 1/17/2025 |
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| 3 | 3 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1446 |
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| 4 | 4 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 5 | 5 | | _________________ |
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| 6 | 6 | | PRESENTED BY: |
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| 7 | 7 | | Patrick Joseph Kearney |
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| 8 | 8 | | _________________ |
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| 9 | 9 | | To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General |
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| 10 | 10 | | Court assembled: |
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| 11 | 11 | | The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill: |
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| 12 | 12 | | An Act clarifying Meningococcal Vaccine Policy. |
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| 13 | 13 | | _______________ |
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| 14 | 14 | | PETITION OF: |
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| 15 | 15 | | NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Patrick Joseph Kearney4th Plymouth1/17/2025 1 of 2 |
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| 16 | 16 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 4022 FILED ON: 1/17/2025 |
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| 17 | 17 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1446 |
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| 18 | 18 | | By Representative Kearney of Scituate, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 1446) of |
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| 19 | 19 | | Patrick Joseph Kearney relative to college student immunization for meningococcal disease. |
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| 20 | 20 | | Higher Education. |
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| 21 | 21 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 22 | 22 | | _______________ |
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| 23 | 23 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court |
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| 24 | 24 | | (2025-2026) |
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| 25 | 25 | | _______________ |
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| 26 | 26 | | An Act clarifying Meningococcal Vaccine Policy. |
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| 27 | 27 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 28 | 28 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 29 | 29 | | 1 Section 15D of Chapter 76 of the Massachusetts General Laws is hereby amended by |
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| 30 | 30 | | 2striking the original Section 15D and replacing it with the following: |
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| 31 | 31 | | 3 “Section 15D. Section 15D. No newly enrolled full-time student attending a college, |
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| 32 | 32 | | 4university or secondary school shall be registered at the institution except upon presentation of a |
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| 33 | 33 | | 5medical certificate that the student has been immunized against meningococcal disease in |
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| 34 | 34 | | 6accordance with the recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention |
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| 35 | 35 | | 7Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices or on the condition that a medical certificate |
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| 36 | 36 | | 8documenting immunization against meningococcal disease shall be provided within 30 days of |
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| 37 | 37 | | 9registration; but a student may be registered at the institution upon certification made, in writing, |
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| 38 | 38 | | 10by a physician who has personally examined the student and in whose opinion the physical |
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| 39 | 39 | | 11condition of the student is such that his health would be endangered by the immunization. The |
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| 40 | 40 | | 12department of public health shall promulgate rules and regulations and additional guidance for 2 of 2 |
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| 41 | 41 | | 13enforcement of this section in accordance with section 15 of this chapter. In the absence of an |
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| 42 | 42 | | 14emergency or epidemic of disease declared by the department of public health, no student who |
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| 43 | 43 | | 15states in writing that immunization would conflict with his religious beliefs shall be required to |
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| 44 | 44 | | 16present the medical certificate in order to be admitted to the institution. This section shall not |
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| 45 | 45 | | 17require an institution to provide the vaccine or the expense for the vaccine against |
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| 46 | 46 | | 18meningococcal disease. |
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