The following comments are in regard to the public comment period on the Regulations for the Immunization of School Children [12 VAC 5 ? 110].
The regulations fail to acknowledge the principle of informed consent, the legal right to be fully and accurately informed about the benefits and risks of a medical intervention, including a pharmaceutical product, and the right to make a voluntary decision about whether to accept the risk for oneself or a child without being coerced or punished. The state should move from a mandatory, one-size-fits-all vaccination schedule to one that allows parents to decide which vaccines their child receives or does not receive. Where there is risk, there must be choice. At a minimum, the regulations should be amended to include a definition of informed consent.
The right to a medical exemption must be protected. Medical exemptions are very difficult to obtain largely because doctors fear reprisal from the state’s medical regulatory bodies that grant medical licenses and board certifications, and exemptions are often refused by school or health authorities. The regulation should be strengthened to protect an individual’s right to a medical exemption.
The state should not require vaccines for children taught at home. Regulations requiring vaccinations for children taught at home are an overreach of the state’s authority and infringe on the rights of parents and the privacy of children.
The COVID-19 vaccines should not be added to the vaccine schedule. There is now ample evidence that these vaccines are associated with heart inflammation and other side effects, like myocarditis and pericarditis, that can lead to cardiac arrhythmia and death. There is also ample evidence that the shots do not prevent transmission. This vaccine should remain voluntary. It has not been fully tested. It is being tested on human beings.
