A front page article Friday in The Register-Guard highlighted a new law that went into effect March 1 requiring all children who attend school either be vaccinated or have a parent produce evidence that they have been educated about vaccines and still chose not to vaccinate.
Proof of exemption can include a form signed by your child’s physician and a certificate obtained by watching an online education module produced by the State of Oregon about vaccines.
Here is some information I want to share on the new vaccine exemption process:
- Your pediatricians at Eugene Pediatric Associates believe strongly that vaccinating kids saves lives. We have all seen firsthand the impact of vaccine-preventable diseases on kids. Dr. B vaccinated her own precious children based on many years of experience and confidence in the safety and efficacy of childhood shots.
- We welcome your questions about shots during your visits at Eugene Pediatrics. You can also read information on vaccines on our website under both the Vaccines and the Resources sections.
- Choosing not to vaccinate a child is an active decision that impacts not only the child of the parent refusing shots but also the rest of the community. Thus, all your pediatricians at Eugene Pediatrics believe it is appropriate to ask parents to view medically accurate information about shots as part of a process of refusing to vaccinate.
- The education module put out by the state is good. You may watch it, and then complete and print an exemption form at the end of the module, if you still wish to decline vaccines.
- We believe in parents’ fundamental rights to choose what to do with their children’s bodies. We believe it is our job to provide parents with the best advice and resources available about shots, and then let you decide. Whereas some large pediatric practices in this city are planning not to sign the forms for parents wishing to refuse vaccines, we will sign those forms for families with the following caveats:
- The child must be an established patient of our practice. We won’t sign paperwork for kids unless we are actually their doctors.
- The parent must bring the form for our signature into our office in person, read our website information on vaccines while they are in our waiting room and sign that they received this education.
The physician who is the child’s primary care provider must sign, not one of our partners.
You can schedule vaccine visits with our nurses by calling 541-HUG-KIDS. As in all healthcare matters, we are here every step of the way for you and your children.