RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE WISCONSIN LEGISLATURE END THE USE OF PERSONAL CONVICTION WAIVERS OR SCHOOL AND DAY CARE CENTER IMMUNIZATIONS

RESOLUTION NO. _____ - 2019

 RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE WISCONSIN LEGISLATURE END THE USE OF PERSONAL CONVICTION WAIVERS FOR SCHOOL AND DAY CARE CENTER IMMUNIZATIONS

Background:

There are multiple, potentially dangerous, communicable diseases that are preventable by vaccinations required by Wisconsin law for school and day care attendance. Vaccine-preventable diseases can be very contagious and can result in serious health complications, including pneumonia and encephalitis, and even lead to death. 

The effectiveness and safety of vaccines is well established and the Affordable Care Act has improved insurance coverage for vaccinations, which are readily available in medical offices, pharmacies, and the Sauk County Health Department.

All states require certain vaccines for school entry to:

assure that individual children do not contract disease in the social setting of school;
protect other students from contracting a disease from exposure to an unvaccinated student;
protect the broader community from these serious illnesses. This includes individuals who have compromised immune systems from cancer treatment and other bona fide medical reasons.

Wisconsin’s immunization law (Wis. Stat. § 252.04(3), Wis. Admin. Code § DHS 144.06) makes Wisconsin one of only seventeen (17) states that permit parents to opt out or waive some or all of the vaccinations required to attend school or group day care based on their personal (non-medical, non-religious) beliefs.

Wisconsin’s percentage of students with religious and medical waivers has remained relatively constant over the past decade at less than 1%, but the percentage of students with a personal conviction waiver in Wisconsin increased from 0.7% in the 1989-1990 school year, to 1.2% during the 1997-98 school year, to an alarming 4.6% during the 2018-19 school year. Only four (4) states had higher exemption rates than Wisconsin. Sauk County’s rate of personal conviction waivers for children was even higher at 6.4% in 2018-2019, up from 6.0% the previous year. There are at least 23 schools in Sauk County with rates of personal conviction waivers even higher than the state average.

All of the data for the 2019-2020 school year is not yet in, but current data indicate that the rate of personal conviction waivers is continuing to increase, leaving more children unprotected against vaccine-preventable disease, and more members of the community at risk for contracting potentially deadly illnesses. Currently, more than 700 children in Sauk County schools are unprotected from vaccine-preventable disease this year.

Several other states have recently removed personal conviction waivers from their legal codes, such that 33 states now prohibit the use of personal conviction waivers of the required school and daycare immunizations.

Outbreaks of measles have impacted multiple states in 2019, including some adjacent to Wisconsin. There are now 22 states with measles cases. Prior to when the measles vaccination program started in 1963, 3-4 million people got measles every year, 48,000 were hospitalized, 4,000 developed encephalitis (brain swelling), and 500 died each year. Measles is preventable with one of the vaccines required to enter school and day care.

A number of other serious vaccine-preventable disease outbreaks have occurred in Wisconsin over the past 2 decades, including pertussis (whooping cough) and mumps. Immunizations are the most effective way to prevent these, and other, vaccine-preventable diseases.

The Wisconsin Public Health Association, the Wisconsin Association of Local Health Departments and Boards, Medical College of Wisconsin, Wisconsin Medical Society, and the Wisconsin Nurses Association all support a change in school and day care center immunization law that eliminates personal conviction waivers for students in Wisconsin public and private schools and for children who attend group day cares.

[Text Box: Fiscal Impact: [ X ] None [ ] Budgeted Expenditure [ ] Not Budgeted] [Text Box:]

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED; that the Sauk County Board of Supervisors, met in regular session, and hereby requests the Wisconsin Legislature end the use of personal conviction waivers for school and day care center immunizations.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED; and that a copy of this resolution be sent to the Governor of Wisconsin, Wisconsin state legislators, WPHA, WALHDAB, Wisconsin Counties Association, and other organizations as appropriate.

For consideration by the Sauk County Board of Supervisors on December 17, 2019.

Respectfully submitted,

SAUK COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH 

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Donna Stehling, Chair                                                  Glen Johnson

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John Miller                                                                   Scott Von Asten

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Diane Reinfeldt                                                                      Kiana Beaudin

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Ken Carlson    

EXECUTIVE & LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE

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Peter Vedro, Chair                                                        William Hambrecht

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Wally Czuprynko                                                         David Riek

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Thomas Kriegl                                                            

Fiscal Note:  This resolution does not require an appropriation from the County or State budget.

Information System Note:  None.