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8/4/2015
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Representative Justin Price Calls on the Department of Health to Provide Parents of School Age Children with an Informative ‘Vaccine Exemption Affidavit’ for the HPV Vaccine
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 STATE HOUSE – Representative Justin Price (R - District 39 Exeter, Hopkinton, Richmond) calls on Rhode Island’s Department of Health to rescind the mandatory requirement that all students, beginning in the 7th grade, receive the HPV vaccination.
The Department of Health (DOH) is authorized by state statute to determine the rules and regulations pertaining to immunizations for students in pre-school, K -12, college, and for healthcare workers. DOH recently added the HPV (human papillomavirus) vaccine to its list of mandatory vaccinations for school age children beginning in the 7th grade.
“To be clear, I do believe vaccine technology is valid. I am singling out this particular requirement for a variety of reasons. Many of my constituents have expressed their concern that the decision to have their children vaccinated should be one that the state should not make for them. Excluding children from school for refusal to be vaccinated against a disease spread only by sexual activity is a serious precedent-setting action that trespasses on the rights of parents to make medical decisions for their children as well as on the rights of the children to attend school.” Representative Price said.
Parents can exempt their children from this required school immunization for religious or pre-existing medical reasons. Texas provides an opt-out process to their once mandatory HPV vaccine.
“Signing off on the ‘Religious Immunization Exemption Certificate For Use in Public and Private Daycare, Preschool, School & College’ form will excuse a child from being vaccinated. The premise for those who are opposed to having their children receive the HPV vaccine may be based on religious beliefs whether that be true or not.” Price said. “The other exemption is based upon bona fide medical reasons that are verified by the students’ medical provider.”
“It isn’t right that parents may be forced to lie just to avoid a mandate that they perceive as potentially dangerous or unnecessary – many folks see a significant difference between the HPV vaccine and vaccinations that prevent airborne disease,” added Price.
Representative Price continued, “The vaccine for HPV was first made available for girls in about 2006 followed by a vaccine for boys in 2010. Currently many countries are reviewing their policies of mandatory HPV vaccines. Denmark, Japan, France, Spain and Colombia are on the list reviewing the efficacy and risks of the HPV vaccines. Scotland has a petition to have open, honest scientific/medical debate in Edinburgh relating to the true benefit/risk profile of HPV vaccines with representatives from both sides of the issue present. This type of debate has already taken place in Tokyo, Japan, in February 2014 and in Paris, France, in May 2014. Japan stopped mandatory HPV vaccines and legislators in France called for multiple actions to ensure the future health of their constituents.”
“At the very least the current exemption certificate should be replaced with a vaccine exemption affidavit that includes full disclosure of the benefits and risks of this vaccine so that parents have all of the necessary information. Should they decide to sign the affidavit to exempt their children then they do so without being forced to claim a potentially false reason for doing so.”
For more information, contact:
Lisa Blais, House Minority Office
State House Room 106
Providence, RI 02903
(401) 222-2259
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