Self-styled California 'refugees' moving to Idaho to avoid vaccinating their kids

FILE: A vial containing the MMR vaccine, right, and another vial containing the diluent used to mix the vaccine, sit on a tray before being loaded into a syringe at the Medical Arts Pediatric Med Group in Los Angeles. less FILE: A vial containing the MMR vaccine, right, and another vial containing the diluent used to mix the vaccine, sit on a tray before being loaded into a syringe at the Medical Arts Pediatric Med Group in Los ... more Photo: Mel Melcon, TNS Photo: Mel Melcon, TNS Image 1 of / 19 Caption Close Self-styled California 'refugees' moving to Idaho to avoid vaccinating their kids 1 / 19 Back to Gallery

Some California parents who moved to Idaho to avoid vaccinating their children are calling themselves "refugees," according to an Idaho Statesman investigation.

The story discusses how Idaho became a hot spot for anti-vax Californians. In California, children must be vaccinated — or provide a medical exemption from a doctor — in order to attend school. By Jan. 2021, doctors who issue five or more exemptions per year will be reviewed by a state health official.

In Idaho, parents may obtain an exemption based solely on personal beliefs, a loophole closed by California law. They don't even need a doctor's note; a parent's signature on a form is enough. It's one of the most lax vaccine laws in the nation.

Late last year, Idaho began considering changes to this policy and the Statesman obtained transcripts and emails from the public hearing period through public records requests.

"I'm writing as a deeply concerned Parent & California Refugee, who had to pull my entire Family out of the State to protect them from Tyrranical [sic] Government. I will Not stand by allowing Idaho to become a Socialist State," reads one email.

"I'm a mother. And I'm also a California refugee," Bay Area native Shalee Brindley said at one Boise hearing. "I came here in search of medical freedom."

Another public comment came from Lou Munilla, who said he has a master's degree from Stanford but moved to Idaho "for the freedoms of this state." He told the audience he would defend his rights "with my life and my weapons."

"I don’t care about the herd," Munilla said, "I care about my family, about my children."

The reference to "the herd" is likely regarding herd immunity. In any given society, some members will not be able to be vaccinated, either because they are too young or because of other medical conditions. In order for those members to also be safe from communicable diseases, enough healthy members of society must be vaccinated.

By getting vaccinated, those individuals can no longer pass along diseases and thus keep others safe too.

The science behind vaccination is strongly backed by medical experts, who overwhelmingly endorse mandatory vaccination for children. Although there are side effects to vaccination, most are fairly minor and adverse reactions are rare. Vaccines have eradicated or greatly decreased a number of the commonly fatal or crippling diseases, including polio, smallpox, measles, mumps, whooping cough and tetanus.

Some anti-vaccine advocates believe vaccines are inherently unsafe, while others want the sole right to dictate their child's medical decisions.

"Vaccine hesitancy has the potential, at least in some places, to really hinder the very real progress the world has made in controlling vaccine-preventable diseases," Dr. Ann Lindstrand, an immunization expert for the World Health Organization, told the BBC in 2019. "Any resurgence we see in these diseases are an unacceptable step backwards."

You can read the full Idaho Statesman story here.

Katie Dowd is an SFGATE Senior Digital Editor. Contact: katie.dowd@sfgate.com | Twitter: @katiedowd