Relating to administration of vaccines in schools

The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. This bill provides that the board of directors of a school district and the authorities in charge of an accredited nonpublic school shall not permit the administration of vaccines to a student on the school premises or through a school-sponsored vaccination effort by personnel authorized to administer vaccines unless the student’s parent or guardian provides to the school prior written authorization for the administration of each vaccine administered. The bill requires that the parent or guardian be provided with educational materials regarding the vaccine to help the parent or guardian make an informed decision. The educational materials shall include but are not limited to information regarding the vaccine’s safety, possible side effects and adverse events related to the vaccine, and information regarding how to identify an adverse reaction and how to report an adverse reaction to the vaccine adverse event reporting system. The bill requires the department of education, the board of medicine, the board of nursing, and the board of pharmacy, in consultation with an organization representing school nurses, to adopt administrative rules to administer the bill.