Some 300 W. Virginia School Vaccine Exemptions Granted Under New, Laxer Policy
In just five months, religious and philosophical exemptions outpace medical exemptions with a 100% approval rate, records obtained by The 74 show.
“You see how fast we approved those? Hundred percent approved … So if we keep allowing an executive order that goes against West Virginia code, it’s going to change the vaccination rate …” said Sissy Price, a registered nurse who serves as co-director of West Virginia Families for Immunization. “And it’s not a matter of if it’s going to happen, it’s a matter of when.”
“There’s a failure of government there,” said Northe Saunders, executive director of the pro-vaccine SAFE Communities Coalition. “There’s a failure of making sure that parents can make the best informed decision that they can if we don’t know what immunization rates are like at the school level.”
