Maine will become the fifth state to prohibit nonmedical exemptions for vaccinations among children in the state, after voters came out in support of the law during a referendum March 3, the Portland Press Herald reports.
The law was passed by the state legislature along party lines in 2019, but shortly after a vaccine referendum campaign began. The referendum campaign gathered more than 77,000 signatures to force a challenge on the March ballot.
Maine residents voted overwhelmingly in favor of keeping the law that will tighten vaccine requirements for children in the state — winning 73 percent to 27 percent with 76 percent of polling places reporting early March 4.
The law will go into effect in 2021, and it bans children and others attending public and private K-12 schools, colleges, universities as well as employees of nursery schools and healthcare facilities from opting out of vaccination coverage citing reasons that are not medical issues, according to the Bangor Daily News.