State Rep. Tony McCombie (R-Savanna) | Facebook/Tony McCombie
State Rep. Tony McCombie (R-Savanna) | Facebook/Tony McCombie
Thousands of people in Illinois have already said they'd testify against legislation that would require health care professionals to enter a patient's vaccine information into a registry and one Republican lawmaker wants to make sure their voices are heard.
State Rep. Tony McCombie (R-Savanna) has encouraged those who oppose the law to speak out against it.
"CALL TO ACTION! ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!! Please contact Rep. Moran with your thoughts on HB4244 and please file your opposition with 10,938 other Illinoisans!" McCombie wrote in a Jan. 18 Facebook post.
Rep. Bob Morgan (D-Highwood) introduced the bill back in December. Earlier this month it was assigned to the House Human Services Committee, according to the Illinois General Assembly website.
"HB 4244 would require all doctors, pharmacies, hospitals and medical centers to register their patients' personal immunizations with a state-run database," McCombie said in her post.
Under the proposal, health care providers would have to send immunization data and exemption forms to the Department of Public Health for the information to be entered into a registry starting next year.
"Currently, the state immunization registry already in place is optional," McCombie said.
McCombie told people who were against having their personal vaccine records entered into a state-wide database to register to speak so that their opinions will be taken into consideration. As of Jan. 21, 14,810 people have already committed to testify against the legislation during an upcoming committee hearing on the proposed law, according to the Illinois General Assembly website. It's a large number of people compared to the 288 who've signed up to speak in favor of a mandatory vaccine registry.
Besides the public outcry opposed to the mandatory database, the bill has also drawn the attention and reactions of several lawmakers, the Madison - St. Clair Record reported.
A public hearing on House Bill 4244 is scheduled for Jan. 26, 2022 at 9 a.m. before the Human Services Committee.
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