AUGUSTA, Maine - Maine's top health official says he supports legislation that would make it more difficult for parents to opt out of immunizations required to attend school.
Kenneth Albert, director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, told the Portland Press Herald on Tuesday he supports an "informed consent'' bill similar to one Gov. Paul LePage vetoed.
The bill would have required parents seeking philosophic exemptions to vaccinations to obtain the signature of a medical professional before opting out. The state CDC had previously not taken a position on the bill.
Albert says the Legislature should consider it and the administration should "consider it as well.''
LePage vetoed the bill despite saying he was a strong supporter of vaccines. LePage says parents must have a choice to opt out.