Updated November 15th, 2019 at 20:16 IST

Germany passes law making measles vaccination compulsory for children

Lawmakers in Germany have passed a law that will protect the children from a life-threatening disease measles in the years to come by providing vaccinations

Reported by: Ruchit Rastogi
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Lawmakers in Germany have passed a law that will protect the children from a life-threatening disease measles in the years to come. The law passed by the parliament will make it compulsory for children to get a vaccine for measles. According to reports, from the month of August 2021 will be fined up to €2,500/$4,055 if they fail to get their kids vaccinated.

A move to tackle Measles

Also, the vaccine will not be limited to the children and staff members in working in kindergartens, hospitals, asylum-seeker homes, and holiday camps will also be required to get the vaccines.

German health minister, Jens Spahn, was of the opinion that the law was passed to protect children and said that he wanted the citizens to support it. He also said that a measles epidemic is unnecessary in today's time.

The law that was passed had the support of almost everyone except the Green Party who were of the opinion that the German citizens should not be forced to do anything against their will. The Green Party further added that a big educational campaign should be conducted in order to explain the benefits of the measles vaccine and disregard any wrong information surrounding the vaccine.

Read: WHO Claims Measles Have Dramatically Increased In European Countries

A strict rule by Italy to stop potential epidemics

In the month of March, Italy introduced a law that banned children from entering schools unless they had been given the 10 required vaccines.

According to reports, children belonging to the age group between 6 and 16 will not be turned away from coming to school but their parents will be heavily fined if they are found of not ensuring the required vaccinations. However, children going to kindergarten and nursery will be affected if found of not having the necessary shots.

Read: Vaccine Shows Promise For Preventing Active TB Disease

While talking to a local media outlet, Italy's Health Minister Giulia Grillo stated that the rule will be strictly implemented and children will not be allowed to attend school if they don't have the vaccines. According to Italy's Lorenzin law, children must have immunizations such as vaccinations for rubella, mumps, chickenpox, diphtheria, tetanus, hepatitis B, pertussis, measles, and Haemophilus influenzae type B

Read: A Third Of Kentucky Students Haven’t Had Hepatitis A Vaccine

Read: India Provides Over 10,000 Vials Of Anti-rabies Vaccines To Myanmar

(With inputs from agencies)

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Published November 15th, 2019 at 18:13 IST