The University of California system, with an enrollment of about 233,000, will require incoming students to be vaccinated for measles, mumps, rubella, chickenpox, meningococcus, tetanus and whooping cough beginning in 2017.
Currently, the university requires only that students be vaccinated against hepatitis B.
In a statement, the university said that this new plan has been in the works for a year, but the current measles vaccine has made it more "pressing."
The Los Angeles Times reports:
"The move comes amid growing calls for more action to stop the spread of the disease and get more people immunized.
"On Wednesday, Gov. Jerry Brown appeared open to legislation that would eliminate all but medical waivers.
"The governor's new flexibility highlighted a growing momentum toward limiting vaccination exemptions partly blamed for the state's worst outbreak of measles since 2000 and flare-ups of whooping cough and other preventable illnesses."
So far this year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has counted 102 cases of measles. Most of those stem from an outbreak at Disneyland that began in December.
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