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School Vaccines: IL families must show proof of religious exemption to opt out

Families with school-aged children who are opting out of the required vaccinations will now have to show a certificate of proof that there is a religious conflict.

Families with school-aged children who are opting out of the required vaccinations will now have to show a certificate of proof that there is a religious conflict.

Governor Bruce Rauner signed a bill into law on August 3, 2015 that will require parents to provide a Certificate of Religious Exemption. That certificate will have to have a doctor’s signature saying that they have been informed of the risks to the student and the community for choosing to opt out of vaccines or examinations.

Parents must present these certificates to their child’s school before the student enters kindergarten, sixth grade, and ninth grade.

Lawmakers who supported this measure hoped that more people would get vaccines. According to a report by WGN, the number of religious exemptions has more than doubled since 2009.

Illinois Department of Public Health Director Nirav Shah said Wednesday, August 12, that vaccines are for more than the protection of the patient, but that they protect entire communities.

The Illinois Department of Public Health Director Nirav D. Shah, M.D., J.D., said not only to vaccines help protect the patients that get them, but they also protect communities from getting or spreading diseases.

“Because vaccines are not always 100 percent effective, it is important that as many people as possible are immunized to decrease the amount of disease circulating and help prevent illness and possibly even death,” Shah said.

The law went into effect upon signing.  Certificates will be made by the Department of Public Health and will be available to parents starting for the 2015-2016 school year.

Click here to read the full public act.

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