Idaho lawmakers consider bill to ban certain vaccines statewide

• Idaho lawmakers are considering Senate Bill 1036, which seeks to pause gene therapy immunizations for 10 years. The bill is named for an Idaho rancher who claims he was paralyzed after receiving the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine.
• The Idaho Senate committee discussed the bill, which would ban the use of DNA and RNA-based vaccines. However, they did not vote on it.
• The Montana House killed a similar bill under consideration on Wednesday.

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Idaho lawmakers are considering a bill that would ban certain vaccines statewide. Senate Bill 1036, also known as the Doug Cameron Act, seeks to put a 10-year pause on “gene therapy immunizations to ensure the safety and well-being of all Idahoans.”

The bill is named for Doug Cameron. He’s an Idaho rancher who says he was severely injured after receiving a genetic immunization during the COVID-19 pandemic. Cameron supports the bill and told lawmakers he became paralyzed from the waist down in 2021 when blood clots formed after taking the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine.

The Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine is not an mRNA vaccine but delivers DNA genetic materials to cells, helping the body develop antibodies against the coronavirus spike protein, according to Nebraska Medicine. However, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is no longer available in the United States.

The Idaho bill defines “human gene therapy product” as “all products that mediate their effects by transcription or translation of transferred genetic material or by specifically altering human genetic sequences.”

According to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, a DNA vaccine transfers genetic material but does not alter someone’s DNA.

The bill also includes banning the use of RNA as immunizations. According to the National Human Genome Research Institute, RNA is similar to DNA, but its molecule is different, as it’s most often single-stranded. mRNA vaccines are a type of RNA technology first developed in the 1960s and brought to market during the COVID-19 pandemic. Pfizer and Moderna developed their COVID-19 shots using mRNA technology.

Idaho Senate committee members listened to arguments for and against the bill for about two hours Monday, Feb. 17, but did not vote on it.

Montana lawmakers were considering similar legislation; however, the House killed the bill Wednesday, Feb. 19.