Exemption Information

Introduction

The following information is not to be construed as legal advice and it is not a substitute for a professional legal opinion.

The Department of Health is the State agency with the responsibility for preserving and protecting the health of the citizens of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, but that responsibility does not extend to the individual child. The parent or guardian (and not the state, school or pediatrician) is responsible for preserving and protecting the health of each child.

Choosing to vaccinate your child is serious business. For example, in Pennsylvania in 1999 there were 721 adverse reactions to vaccines severe enough to be reported to the national Vaccine Adv erse Event Reporting System including 7 deaths in PA in 1999 (). However, so is not vaccinating your child.

An immunization exception must be declared if a parent chooses to not vaccinate, to skip a particular vaccine or the parent chooses to vaccinate on a slower more conservative immunization sche dule like what is done in Europe.

We suggest you make an informed decision. Suggested reading for all parents or guardians can be found here: The following short video is also a good starting point to understand how well vaccines are researched and tested:

§ 23.84. Exemption from immunization. [28 PA. CODE CH.23]

Medical exemption.

Children need not be immunized if a physician or the physician's designee provides a written statement that immunization may be detrimental to the health of the child. When the physician determines that immunization is no longer detrimental to the health of the child, the child shall be immunized according to this subchapter.

Religious exemption.

Children need not be immunized if the parent, guardian or emancipated child objects in writing to the immunization on religious grounds or on the basis of a strong moral or ethical conviction similar to a religious belief.

Please keep the following in mind. The school administrators have a number of very specific requirements that must be met, which are:

1. Inform the parent at registration that all your child must be immunized before being admitted to school. However, they are NOT obligated to tell you that you have two exemptions to the immu nization requirements.

2. Ascertain the immunization status of a child prior to admission to school or continued attendance at school. They must ask you if your child is immunized, but you are not required to disclo se the status of your child&Statewide46;s immunizations if you are declaring an exemption.

3. The parent shall be asked for a completed certificate of immunization, at which point you politely hand them a copy of your immunization exemption letter.

4. The school administrator must fully (not provisionally) admit your child to school immediately upon receiving your immunization exemption letter according to section § 23.85 Responsibi lities of schools and school administrators paragraphs (b) and (d).

(d) A child not previously admitted to or not allowed to continue attendance at school because the child has not had the required immunizations shall be admitted to or permitted to continue at tendance at school only upon presentation to the school administrator or school administrator's designee of a completed certificate of immunization or immunization record, upon submission of inform ation sufficient for an exemption under § 23.84, or upon compliance with subsection (e).

5. The school administrator must report the number of children by grade level fulfilling the immunization requirements. They must also report the number of children not fulfilling the immuniza tion requirements because of exemptions. The do not report any child by name to the state who is admitted but who has a religious or medical exemption, regardless of what they may tell you.

6. A school shall maintain on file a certificate of immunization for each child enrolled. An alternative to maintaining a certificate on file is to transfer the immunization information from t he certificate to a computer database.

7. Please be aware that the school district may receive grant money from the Department of Health (given to them by the CDC) based on the percentage of children admitted which are fully immuni zed. This also applies to your child's pediatrician.

8. The school administrator is not required to ask you any details about your religious or medical exemption, therefore you are not required to provide any information other than a simple lett er stating your objection.

Sample Immunization Exemption Letter

[DATE]
To Whom It May Concern:
Re: Religious Exemption

I, ______________________, being the legal guardian of _________________________ object to the immunization requirements as outlined by the Department of Health of the Commonwealth of Pennsylv ania as defined in 28 PA. CODE CH.23 on the basis of a strong moral or ethical conviction similar to a religious belief as outlined in section § 23.84 Exemption from immunization.

If you need a copy of the School Immunizations Rules and Regulations [28 PA. CODE CH. 23] for your records, I will be happy to provide you a copy.

Sincerely,

Further Reading

The rules and regulations for School Immunizations requirements and Child Day Care Facilities Immunization requirements are defined by the Department of Health, the State Advisory Health Board , and the Department of Public Welfare. These rules and regulations are outlined PA Bulletin Title 28 PA. CODE CH.23. The following links outline the immunization requirements: