VT House Debates Childhood Immunization Law

The Vermont House has voted to uphold a philosophical exemption for parents who want to skip the requirement that their children get a series of vaccinations before being allowed to attend school or child care.

  WAMC's Tristan O'Neill reports...

The 36-93 vote was against an amendment to eliminate the exemption that public health officials have blamed for lowering Vermont's childhood vaccination rate from 93 percent for incoming kindergarteners in 2005 to 83 percent in 2010.

Critics of the proposed change say the numbers of kids missing vaccinations is exaggerated because kids who have missed just one of the roughly 20 shots they're supposed to have by kindergarten are counted among the unvaccinated.

Tristan O'Neill, WAMC News.

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