concerning the modernization of the school entry immunization process
If you want to dive into specific questions and answers (or mythbusting!) about SB 163, click here to check out the FAQ.
Full text of SB 163 is available here.
Full text of SB 163 is available here.
THE CURRENT MOMENT
It could not be more clear now, during this national health emergency, that we must work to protect our communities from communicable diseases.
THE PROBLEM
Colorado ranks last nationwide for kindergarten vaccination rates and well below the 95% level required to achieve herd immunity.
It could not be more clear now, during this national health emergency, that we must work to protect our communities from communicable diseases.
- Colorado's vulnerable populations -- and our health care system -- cannot afford to experience a vaccine-preventable disease outbreak on top of dealing with the ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Vaccinations save lives, ensure the ongoing health of our communities, and also have a role to play in protecting our economy.
THE PROBLEM
Colorado ranks last nationwide for kindergarten vaccination rates and well below the 95% level required to achieve herd immunity.
- Less than 89% of kindergarten-aged children in Colorado have received vaccines for diseases like measles, mumps, and rubella. That's well below the national average of 94.3%.
- Colorado's vaccination rate has plummeted even further since the early days of the COVID-19 quarantine. This predictable drop, as parents avoided contact with health care facilities during the peak of the pandemic, only compounds Colorado's crisis with childhood vaccination rates.
- Low vaccination rates put vulnerable community members, such as infants too young to receive vaccinations, elderly adults, or those with compromised immune systems at risk for vaccine-preventable diseases.
- Recent measles outbreaks nationwide have been stark reminders of the importance of vaccinations for children and the importance of all parents having the information they need to make health decisions that will best protect their families and the community from contagious, preventable, potentially deadly diseases.
- Hospital and emergency department charges to treat children in Colorado for vaccine-preventable diseases totaled more than $55 million in 2017. Actual costs, considering costs of doctors' office visits, medication, lost wages, and decreased productivity are much higher.
THE SOLUTION
Create Healthier, Safer Schools
WHAT THIS BILL DOES NOT DO:
Create Healthier, Safer Schools
- Establish a statewide vaccination goal for all children, including child care facilities
- Provide additional resources and supports to help schools and communities reach this goal
- Require schools to proactively notify parents of school immunization rates
- Require all immunizing health care providers to use the state's voluntary immunization data system (Colorado Immunization Information System, or CIIS)
- Parents retain the existing ability to opt their child's information out of CIIS
- Preserve the non-medical exemption option, so parents with deeply held beliefs are NOT REQUIRED to vaccinate
- Utilize a single, health department-issued form when taking an exemption
- Parents utilizing a non-medical exemption will EITHER get their form signed by an immunizing provider OR complete a online vaccine education class
WHAT THIS BILL DOES NOT DO:
- It does not require any parent to vaccinate their children if they are opposed
- It does not remove a parent's ability to opt their child's data out of the state immunization database (CIIS)
- It does not create an unreasonable burden for parents who don't vaccinate -- it just balances the process by having them make the same effort to protect public health that vaccinating parents do
- It does not violate HIPAA, FERPA, or any other protected data
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