Thank you for the opportunity to comment on this review of the regulations governing immunizations for Virginia’s schoolchildren. 

First, I would respectfully request that the current regulations be amended so that they do not apply to children attending homeschool.  The current requirement undermines the authority of parents to make informed choices regarding their childrens’ health, especially in cases where parents have elected to provide for their children’s education separate and apart from those children attending public or private schools.  

Second, I would respectfully request that the HPV vaccine be removed from the list of vaccines deemed mandatory for school attendance.  The current requirement undermines the authority of parents to make informed choices regarding their children’s health and potentially jeopardizes the future reproductive capacity of the young ladies who receive the vaccine.  Parents who wish for their children to receive this vaccine should have the option, but those who do not should not be required to seek an exemption for their children to attend school.

Third - under no circumstance should any of the COVID-19 vaccines be added to the list of vaccines required for children to attend school.  COVID-19 poses negligible risk to healthy children in the first place, and an estimated 94% of children in the US have already had the disease and therefore have acquired superior natural immunity.  There is now well-reported known risk of COVID-19 vaccine-induced myocarditis, particularly for young men, and the vaccine is also now known to fail at stopping transmission.  Finally, its administration likely prolonged the presence of the disease in the US, and its long-term safety impact is unknown.  

Thank you, in advance, for your consideration of my views.