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Fantastic (note that the article mentions (or at least hints at) medical exemptions, which of course makes sense)! Now ... if only we could make this happen here in the US!

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If that's what you want, don't wait for the institution of a national policy. Talk to your local Board of Education.

I don’t think they have the power.

I'm no expert on this topic, but a brief google search produced this document which suggested to me that they often do:

https://www.nyccharterschools.org/sites/default/files/resour...

I do see that this is for a system of charter schools, but don't see why that should make a difference.

Or the state, as happened in the case of California. There appears to be some abuse of medical exemptions but, for the most part, the California law requiring childhood vaccinations to attend school seems to be working and overall vaccinations are up. [1]

[1] https://www.aafp.org/news/health-of-the-public/20181127calif...

On the one hand, yes, but on the other hand, this isn't a thing that should have to be a board of ed policy. At least where I live, the school board is unpaid volunteers, and it's already an absolutely thankless job. People I know who use Facebook tell me that the group for moms of local school-age kids is an absolute swamp of rage and misinformation. And if you've ever been to a series of school-board meetings on the same topic, you've probably seen the one angry community member who shows up every time to accuse the school board of corruption, incompetence, and lying to the public.

> if only we could make this happen here in the US

Good point. Also essential to ban adults from various public areas who are not up to date on all their boosters.

First we need to make sure everyone has reasonable access to the medical care that would provide those boosters.

And how would you enforce that? Have everyone walk around with their immunization records and stop people randomly?

You could start with places with admission like sports, music, and theme parks.

I understand the serious issue of ensuring immunization. But you do realize how your comment might come off on the fascist side of liberty, right?

Some states that refused (i.e. failed) to set up their own health care exchanges because they did not want to comply with the ACA have Medicaid programs that do not cover low-income adults. If you were deprived of vaccines as a child then you should be allowed to visit the doctor and schedule a series of vaccinations to catch up without paying a copay. It seems wrong to federally ban something without a federal solution.

There may be ways to get vaccines without coverage that of which I am not aware. How would you even get someone to review your record without being in a network, though? OK, KS, MO, MS, TN, AL, GA, SC, NC, FL, VA, UT, ID, WY, ME, WI, NE and SD have no medicaid coverage for low-income adults [1]. That is probably not a complete list.

1. https://www.medicaid.gov/state-overviews/index.html

While that is definitely a bad thing, the issue is about children. Children are covered under CHIP even if their parents don't get coverage under Medicaid.

> if only we could make this happen here in the US!

Hmm, isn't it already required in US? When I sent my son to first grade this year they asked us to verify that we have all the necessary vaccines, without it they would not allow us to register.

IIRC, many school districts have allowed conscientious objection to vaccination requirements.

Or religious exemptions, which it seems have become a catch all category in some places.

School requirements are at the state and local level, so your results may vary.

I wish I could find the article - apparently there is one guy/group actually working on expanding the religious exemptions and has lobbied legislators in a bunch of states to file bills for it. So dumb that the legislators go along with it.

Edit: another dumb things are legislators looking to prohibit discriminating against unvacinated people. https://www.kansascity.com/opinion/editorials/article2109815...

It's determined by each region. Here in Oregon/Washington we have medical exemptions, religious exemptions, and plain old "I just don't agree" exemptions (aka: personal exemptions). Hence why we had such a widespread recent measles outbreak.

IMO this should not be a federal issue. Each state or school district can set their own rules (thus provide the option to parents).

This would pretty much make everyone happy. As most regions would setup the rules to best protect their children.

Now, I'll point out this is effectively is already a thing. You cannot attend school in many locations without getting your vaccines and / or providing a valid reason why you needn't have them. This is the beauty of living in a system which supports state rights. Similar to how Italy and France can set their own laws, so can the states in the U.S..

Inconveniently, it might need to be a federal issue, as communication of disease does not respect state boundaries.

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