Religious Exemption Vaccine Bill Gets Gov. Lamont's Approval

CONNECTICUT — Gov. Ned Lamont announced he would sign a bill that would end religious exemptions for school-required vaccines if it came across his desk.

The bill received its second committee approval Thursday, according to the Hartford Courant. It would still need to pass the state House and Senate before Lamont got a chance to sign it.

The bill would end the exemption at public and private schools, including higher education. It would also require vaccines for children attending child care centers and group and family day care homes, according to the state Office of Legislative Research.

Students in seventh grade and above could be grandfathered in if they’ve already received a religious exemption, but students in sixth grade and under would have to generally comply with vaccination rules come Sept. 1, 2022.

The state’s medical exemption would stay in place.

It’s the third year in a row that ending the religious exemption has been proposed, according to the Connecticut Mirror. The bill’s effective date would mean that the exemption would end for non-grandfathered children for the 2022-2023 school year.

Kindergartener vaccination rates have generally been declining since at least the 2012-2013 school year, though there was a slight uptick for some vaccinations in the 2019-2020 school year, according to the state Department of Public Health.

Connecticut law requires the following immunizations for students:

• Measles, mumps and rubella
• Polio
• Diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis
• Influenza B (only mandated for children under 5)
• Hepatitis A and B
• Varicella (chicken pox)
• Influenza (preschool children)
• Pneumonia (children under 5)
• Meningitis (7th grade)

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