Last summer, Governor Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill 277, a law that now makes vaccines mandatory for all students attending public or private schools, regardless of personal beliefs or religious reasons.

Failure to comply to this mandate will result in a loss of the State Constitutional right to free and appropriate education in public and private K-12 schools.

Daycare facilities and after school programs are also included in this policy.

Children not up-to-date on their vaccines will be required to be homeschooled.This policy will be effective starting July 1.

Supporting this policy is not only the right choice to make, but the only choice to make in order to keep children safe and healthy from the many life threatening diseases.

Let’s face the facts. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), deaths by vaccine-preventable diseases decreased by at least 80 percent after vaccines were introduced over the years.

Diphtheria had 21,000 annual deaths pre-vaccine era, but numbers have decreased by 99 percent today.

Varicella, a virus that commonly causes chicken pox and affects the nervous system, had over 4 million deaths annually.

Today, there’s only about 150,000 reports of the disease, a more than 95 percent decrease.

According to the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), child deaths have been cut in half ever since vaccinations were introduced, and 1.5 million unvaccinated children under the age of five die every year from an easily preventable disease.

But why are people against this policy?

Let’s also talk about herd immunity. Many children today are unable to be vaccinated because of medical reasons.

These children therefore rely on a form of indirect protection from vicious diseases that exist: herd immunity.

In an environment where almost everyone is vaccinated, the risk of contracting a disease for the vulnerable is decreased dramatically.

In a 2012 survey conducted by PBS, more than 90 percent of doctors support vaccinations.

In fact, vaccines are so important that many clinics offer free vaccinations.

There is absolutely no plausible argument to refuse them.

Are there “chemicals” being injected into your body from these vaccines? Yes, but a good old bowl of instant ramen noodles also has chemicals, but I don’t see anybody creating organizations to ban instant ramen, nor any accusations that it causes autism.

Those who are anti-vaccine are always so quick to point out the bad cases of children being vaccinated, such as common allergic reactions.

These are the same children that have to rely on others being vaccinated to again induce herd immunity and prevent their risk of the disease.

There’s a misconception that vaccines cause more harm than good. In a documented journey, CDC carefully tested every ingredient in the vaccines administered to children.

In fact, they have completed years of research and have had hundreds of thousands of volunteers under strict, careful surveillance to ensure that the vaccines doctors provide are safe.

Doctors are people that have undergone four years of undergraduate school, four years of medical school, three to eight years of residency in a medical environment, and possibly a few extra years of fellowship.

Researchers and medical scientists who have created these vaccines have undergone this rigorous training and more.

I don’t know about you, but I think I’ll be siding with the doctors who have more than 10 years of medical education than the parent who looks up some phony studies online.

Gov. Brown made the right decision. We can’t ignore the statistics.