Yes, Virginia… There IS a COVID Vax Mandate for Children in NH - Granite Grok

Yes, Virginia… There IS a COVID Vax Mandate for Children in NH

imagine parents jabbing their kids

The recent decision by the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) to add COVID vaccines to the list of recommended immunizations for children has prompted widespread concerns about new mandates. A lot of states defer to ACIP in their decisions about which vaccines should be required for children, – so for many families across the country, this decision does create a de facto COVID vax mandate.

For New Hampshire, there’s both good news and bad news.

The good news is that New Hampshire generally doesn’t defer to ACIP. As a rule, the COVID vaccine is not required for children in our state.

Except when it is.

Here comes the bad news: For a small number of children in New Hampshire, the COVID-19 shot is now officially mandatory. Here’s how it works:

The New Hampshire legislature frequently delegates lawmaking authority to unelected bureaucrats using a mechanism known as “administrative rulemaking.” Make no mistake, though. Administrative rules have the full power and force of law, despite the fact that they have never gone through the legislature.

RSA 170-E:34 addresses requirements for foster care homes and childcare facilities. It stipulates that “The commissioner [of Health & Human Services] shall adopt rules, under RSA 541-A, relative to… minimum standards for licensing which apply to the various types of facilities for child care and child placement… [including] the appropriateness, safety, environmental health and general adequacy of the premises.”

One of the rules created under the authority granted by this statute is rule He-C 6446.14-h-1:

For any foster parent seeking to provide care to a child under 6 years old, or a child with special medical needs, all children who are household members shall be up to date on immunizations consistent with the recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (ACIP), and the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), unless the immunization is contrary to the child’s health as documented by a licensed health care professional. (emphasis added)

Translation: Any child who lives in a home that hosts a foster child under 6, or hosts a foster child with any special medical needs (which is probably most of them???), – must by law get the full spectrum of ACIP-recommended vaccines, including the COVID shot.

Mind you, this requirement does not apply to the foster children themselves. They’re protected from a mandatory COVID shot under RSA 141-C:1-a, by virtue of the fact that they receive a benefit from the state.

The administrative rule mandates the COVID shot for any other “child” (up to 21 years old) who lives in the same household with the foster child. In other words, the natural-born children or adopted children of foster-family households are now subject to a mandate.

It gets even worse: There is no allowance for a religious exemption in this case. Although RSA 141-C:20-c allows for religious exemptions to immunization requirements, He-C 6446.14-h-1 stipulates that the only allowable reason for exemption in this instance is where “the immunization is contrary to the child’s health as documented by a licensed health care professional.”

Sorry kids… no equal protection for you.

Watch for a bill in the coming legislative session aiming to fix this ugliness.

A tip of the hat to Laura Condon, New Hampshire’s Director of Advocacy for the National Vaccine Information Center. It is through her tireless efforts that we were made aware of this issue.

If you’re interested in getting involved, join me this Saturday evening (November 5th) at The Root in Temple, NH (on Route 101, just a few miles west of Milford). Health Freedom NH will be celebrating its newly formed alliance with Children’s Health Defense New England Chapter. $20 gets you a great dinner, live music, and an opportunity to network with some like-minded people. Proceeds benefit HFNH. It runs 5:30 to 9:30 PM, Get your tickets HERE.

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