(a) A public entity, public employee, or volunteer, participating in the National Influenza Program of 1976, shall not be liable for an injury caused by an act or omission in the promotion of a community program or the administration of vaccine in a community program, including the residual effects of the vaccine, unless the act or omission constitutes willful misconduct.
(b) All promotions of a community program and oral and written information provided for purposes of consent to a person requesting inoculation shall contain notice of the provisions of subdivision (a) of this section. In the event the person to be inoculated is a minor, the parents or legal guardian of said minor must be informed orally or in writing of the provisions of subdivision (a) of this section and said parents or legal guardian must consent in writing to the inoculation of said minor person. The State Department of Health shall prescribe a form to be used in community programs which notifies a person of the provisions of subdivision (a) and contains a provision by which the person acknowledges that he has been so notified and understands the legal effect of the subdivision.
(c) As used in the section:
(1) “Community program” means a public program conducted by a state, city, county, or district health agency under the National Influenza Program of 1976 or a public or private organization which has entered into a contract with a state, city, county, or district health agency, with the approval of the State Department of Health, to provide services pursuant to the National Influenza Program of 1976.
(2) “Volunteer” means a licensed health professional, licensed health facility, organization, or individual participating in a community program.
(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an individual authorized by the State Department of Health may administer influenza vaccine under the supervision of a licensed health professional in a community program using a jet injection apparatus.
(Added by Stats. 1976, Ch. 427.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018