It was a day of protest all across the Island and New York state.

Parents pulled their children out of school to oppose legislation working its way through the state Legislature that would mandate flu and HPV vaccinations for children.

A group gathered outside Democratic Sen. Todd Kaminsky's office, who is on the state's health committee, in Rockville Centre. Protesters say it should be up to parents and physicians, not the government, to decide what vaccines children should get.

Some also say they aren't anti-vaccine, but rather that parents should have a choice when considering their child's reaction to a vaccine.

Dr. Sharon Nachman, the chief of pediatric infectious diseases at Stony Brook Children's Hospital, says the flu vaccine should be mandatory for children and the HPV vaccine probably should be too.

Kristy Bruno, of Great River, says her children are up to date on all state-mandated vaccines so far, but she doesn't have her children get the flu shot anymore after one of them had a severe reaction to it.

A spokesman for Sen. Kaminsky says the bills for mandatory HPV and flu vaccines have been introduced every year in the Senate since 2014 but have never been voted on.