TITLE 12. HEALTH
STATE BOARD OF HEALTH
Agency Decision
Title of Regulation: 12VAC5-110. Regulations for the Immunization of School Children.
Statutory Authority: §§ 32.1-46 and 32.1-47 of the Code of Virginia.
Name of Petitioner: Kristen M. Calleja.
Nature of Petitioner's Request: I am writing to voice my request and sincere hope that the board will mandate vaccines for all school employees, with only medical exemptions allowed. Vaccines are already required for all state employees. In addition, vaccines should be required for all students for whom the vaccine has been fully approved, just as many other vaccines are mandated.
My 10th grade daughter and all other kids have sacrificed much over the past 18 months. They only have one childhood. They are finally back to in-person school, but we are already seeing constant disruptions to education for far too many due to infections, possible infections based on symptoms, and mandatory quarantines.
My daughter and all other students should have a right to be able to attend school without being unnecessarily put at risk by other students and teachers who refuse to be vaccinated, and without constant disruptions to their education. And it sure would be great for them to be able to go to school without masks and without worrying about lunch and other unmasked times, as well as overcrowded busses. The irrational minority should not be dictating the public health policy for Virginia or the schools.
Agency Decision: Request denied.
Statement of Reason for Decision: On September 1, 2021, the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) posted a petition for rulemaking to the Virginia Regulatory Town Hall. The petitions was received from a resident of Virginia. The petition contained two requests: (i) mandate vaccines for all school employees, with only medical exemptions allowed and (ii) mandate the vaccine for all students for whom the vaccine has been fully approved. The petition was posted for a 21-day public comment period and received 15,308 comments. The summary of those comments can be found in the table provided.
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Table 1: Petition Comments by Opinion
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Opinions
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Total Comments
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Percent Total
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Unique IP*
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Percent Unique
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All
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15,308
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11,718
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Against
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14,301
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93.42%
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11,086
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94.61%
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For
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847
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5.53%
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607
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5.18%
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Irrelevant
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160
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1.05%
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106
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0.90%
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*Total of Opinions count is greater than total unique IPs because some IPs made multiple comments that were logged under different opinion categories.
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Table 2: Petition Comments by Opinion and Categorization
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Opinion
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Categorization
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Total Number of Comments
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Total Number of Comments with Unique IP Addresses
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Against
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Religious exemption is necessary
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212
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205
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Religious exemption is necessary; unconstitutional
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42
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42
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Should remain voluntary
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8,058
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6,503
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Should remain voluntary; experimental
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329
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310
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Should remain voluntary; religious exemption is necessary
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606
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567
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Should remain voluntary; not enough data on safety and efficacy of vaccine
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2,232
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2,037
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Should remain voluntary; unconstitutional
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642
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603
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Should remain voluntary; not enough data on safety and efficacy of vaccine; religious exemption is necessary
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101
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101
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Should remain voluntary; religious exemption is necessary; unconstitutional
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27
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27
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Should remain voluntary; not enough data on safety and efficacy of vaccine; unconstitutional
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37
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37
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Unconstitutional
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127
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123
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Not enough data on safety and efficacy of vaccine
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1,571
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1,429
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Not enough data on safety and efficacy of vaccine; religious exemption is necessary
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150
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146
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Not enough data on safety and efficacy of vaccine; unconstitutional
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159
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158
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Not enough data on safety and efficacy of vaccine; religious exemption is necessary; unconstitutional
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8
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8
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For
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Support with removal of all other mitigation measures
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1
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1
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Supports for both staff and students
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843
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604
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Supports for staff only
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1
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Agency Contact: Kristin Collins, Policy Analyst, Office of Epidemiology, Virginia Department of Health, 109 Governor Street, Richmond, VA, 23219, telephone (804) 864-7298, FAX (804) 864-7022, or email kristin.collins@vdh.virginia.gov.
VA.R. Doc. No. PFR22-06; Filed September 1, 2021, 1:54 p.m.