> In both Massachusetts and New York a child is required to have a certain
> set of vaccines in order to attend public school. In fact, my college and
> graduate schools both required that certain immunizations and the TB test
> be up to date. No exceptions that I'm aware of. I'd be interested if
> other people know something else.
This is interesting. I'm actually from NY state and I know that they
do in fact have an exemption, although it's a different one than
California. I went through a bunch of my stuff on vaccinations from when
we decided to have Kiera vaccinated, so here's the info I have now. Please
keep in mind that I _do_ vaccinate my children (including my youngest, who
probably would not have been vaccinated due to an immune deficiency,
except for the fact that there is such a large percentage of unvaccinated
children in our area, which puts her at greater risk...), and I _do_
believe in vaccinating children... I'm just putting this out because it
came up...
New York state (and all states, in fact) _does_ have an exception to the
legal requirement for vaccinations. However, unlike California and only a
few other states, which allow "philosophical objections", New York state
(and the rest) _only_ allows religious exemptions. There must be
specific proof provided to obtain the religious exemption. It is also
possible for college students to obtain these exemptions. (I have a friend
who recently got exempted from the rubella shot that Farmingdale was
requiring of her...).
The point is that all states allow some exemption. A very few states allow
philosophical exemptions, while most states only allow religious
exemption. No one can actually legally force you to vaccinate against your
will. There is no "compulsory vaccination law" in the US.
While I have a slew of books and article references for anyone who wants
more information (feel free to ask if you care), the most concise (albeit
dogmatic) article on the subject that I can think of is at
http://www.mercola.com/article/vaccines/legally_avoid_shots.htm
Anyway, there you have it. As for the TB test thing, that kind of had me
stumped too. California makes it really (too) easy to waive all that
stuff... Ouch. I feel a rant coming on.
-sharon
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