Vaccination bills popping up in over 15 states

Vaccination bills are popping up in more than 15 states as lawmakers aim to potentially resurrect or create new religious exemptions from immunization mandates, establish state-level vaccine injury databases or dictate what providers must tell patients about the shots.

Religious exemptions lead the pack

Religious exemptions for school vaccine requirements are among the most popular proposals so far. Lawmakers in New York, Virginia, Connecticut and Mississippi have introduced bills that would allow more people to waive routine shots. Indiana lawmakers will weigh religious exemptions for medical students.

Earlier this month, West Virginia Republican Gov. Patrick Morrisey issued an executive order on his first day in office that enabled families to receive religious exemptions from required school vaccinations.

“That’s a huge step,” said Brian Festa, co-founder of the law firm We The Patriots USA, which works on vaccination-related cases throughout the country. “That’s a state that never had a religious exemption.”

Now, only four states allow just a medical exemption from childcare and K-12 immunization requirements: Connecticut, California, New York and Maine.

Festa credited West Virginia’s new religious exemption to Trump’s nomination of Kennedy, as well as a 2023 federal court ruling that required Mississippi to allow residents to cite religious beliefs when seeking exemptions from state-mandated vaccinations for children.

Vaccine injuries and consent laws

Other vaccine-related bills touch on some of the opposition that’s been growing since the pandemic.

Oklahoma and Alabama have proposals that would require parental consent for any vaccine given to minors. Bills in Wyoming, Oregon and Oklahoma would prohibit “discrimination” against people who aren’t vaccinated against COVID-19 or other diseases.

New York and Oklahoma have bills that would require providers to give people getting shots a full ingredient list, and Florida legislation would ban edible vaccines, though none are approved for use in the U.S. and research is still in early stages.

Vaccine injury is also a popular topic, and bills in Indiana and North Dakota propose creating state versions of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System — a federal database that drew the attention of vaccine skeptics during the pandemic.

North Dakota Republican state Rep. Dick Anderson said he’s not against people getting vaccines — he got one COVID-19 shot himself — but proposed the bill because many people don’t trust the CDC.

Childhood vaccination rates

Childhood vaccination rates against dangerous infections like measles and polio continue to fall nationwide, and the number of parents claiming non-medical exemptions so their kids don’t get required shots is rising.

In 2024, whooping cough cases reached a decade-high and 16 measles outbreaks, the largest among them in Chicago and Minnesota, put health officials on edge. Most states are below the 95% vaccination threshold for kindergartners — the level needed to protect communities against measles outbreaks.

Public opinion

About half of Americans are “very” or “extremely” concerned that those declining childhood vaccination rates will lead to more outbreaks, according to a new poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Yet only about 4 in 10 Americans oppose reconsidering the government’s recommendations for widely used vaccines, while roughly 3 in 10 are in favor. The rest — about 3 in 10 — are neutral.

Expert opinions

Scott Burris, director of Temple University’s Center for Public Health Law Research, has tracked public health legislation for years, and watched backlash against COVID-19 vaccines grow to include more routine vaccines as anti-vaccine activists take hold of powerful political pulpits.

“I think COVID and the politics gave standard vaccine denialists a lot of wind in their sails,” he said.

Dr. Susan Kressly, a pediatrician and president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, emphasized that vaccines are an American success story and that most Americans are vaccinated.

Policy should be focused on getting rid of barriers to vaccination, not adding to them, said Andy Baker-White, senior director of state health policy for the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

Conclusion

Vaccination bills are popping up in over 15 states, aiming to potentially resurrect or create new religious exemptions, establish state-level vaccine injury databases or dictate what providers must tell patients about the shots. As the country faces declining childhood vaccination rates, experts urge lawmakers to focus on removing barriers to vaccination, rather than adding to them.

FAQs

Q: Why are vaccination rates declining?
A: Declining vaccination rates are largely attributed to rising concerns about vaccine safety and increasing opposition to vaccines among some communities.

Q: What is the current vaccination rate for kindergartners in the U.S.?
A: The current vaccination rate for kindergartners in the U.S. is below the 95% threshold needed to protect communities against measles outbreaks.

Q: How many states allow religious exemptions for school vaccinations?
A: Four states allow just a medical exemption from childcare and K-12 immunization requirements: Connecticut, California, New York, and Maine.

Q: What is the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS)?
A: VAERS is a federal database that tracks vaccine injuries and adverse events reported by the public.