samples of religious exemption letters for vaccinations

The child has had a prior serious adverse event related to vaccination.

The child has a serious allergic reaction to a vaccine component.

In either case, vaccination could be harmful to the child’s health. Or, the child might take medications, such as chemotherapy or steroids, that impair the immune system. For example, the child might have a congenital condition, leading to an impaired immune system.

The child’s immune status is compromised by a permanent or temporary condition.These reasons generally include the following situations:

Medical ExemptionsĪll 50 states allow children to be exempted from vaccination requirements for medical reasons. In other states, medical, religious, and often philosophical/personal belief exemptions are available. A variety of exemptions are allowed, depending on state and local regulations. Today in the United States, all states require children be vaccinated for certain diseases before school entry (the required immunizations vary by state). By the end of 1898, magistrates had issued more than 200,000 vaccination exemptions. This clause gave rise to the term “conscientious objector,” which later referred to those opposed to military service. The British Vaccination Act of 1898 provided a conscience clause to allow exemptions to mandatory smallpox vaccination.

However, objections to compulsory vaccination led to an active, organized anti-vaccination movement. Other states and localities began to pass similar regulations, though the rules were often only spottily enforced.Įngland had been more aggressive in mandating vaccination: the Compulsory Vaccination Act of 1853 required infants born in England and Wales to be vaccinated for smallpox, though it allowed an exemption for “those unfit for vaccination.” An 1871 expansion of the law tightened enforcement of the requirement. At that time, only the smallpox vaccine was available. state to require vaccination for schoolchildren. In 1855, Massachusetts became the first U.S.

Samples of religious exemption letters for vaccinations