Unlike most states, North Dakota provides vaccination exemptions for more than religious or medical reasons.
A parent or guardian must sign the North Dakota Certificate of Immunization and indicate which of five exemptions they are claiming,
according to the North Dakota Department of Health.
When using a medical exemption, a physician must sign their name, indicating the physical condition of the individual would lead to the endangerment of life or health if the injection was received.
VOTE NOW: Should Parents Have the Freedom Not to Vaccinate Their Children?
If a child has a history with the disease, specifically chicken pox, they may be exempt from a vaccination with the date of the illness noted. A parent must sign for this exemption.
Other exemptions include religious, philosophical, and moral reasons. A guardian must sign their name if they claim one of these exemptions and indicate the shots to which they apply it.
North Dakota had the fifth worst measles, mumps, and rubella vaccination rate for children entering kindergarten for the 2012-13 school year, Paul Carson,
Sanford Health's director of infection prevention told Inforum.
Immunization rates have dropped below the 90 percent threshold this year for the first time in a couple of decades for the MMR shot.
“You need 90 to 95 percent of the children immunized to get what we call herd immunity,” Carson said. “That’s enough immunity in the community that the disease really can’t get a foothold or spread.”
A total of 19 states have exemptions for personal or philosophical reasons,
according to Politifact.
Earlier in the year, a measles scare started around the country after outbreaks occurred at Disneyland,
according to The Bismark Tribune.
While North Dakota’s four suspected cases turned up negative, a resurgence of pertussis, also known as whooping cough, has occurred making some wonder if the legislature should reevaluate the exemption rules.
URGENT: Should States Be Allowed to Make Health Decisions for Your Children?
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