HB 5105 would allow private and parochial schools to develop their own vaccine policies
BY: LORI KERSEY
As a bill that would loosen West Virginia’s school vaccine requirements heads to the desk of Gov. Jim Justice, some medical professionals are urging him not to sign the legislation into law.
As it is now, state law requires school students to be vaccinated against a series of contagious diseases such as polio and measles, unless they have been granted an exemption due to a medical reason.
House Bill 5105 would allow the state’s 143 private or parochial schools to develop their own rules for vaccines. It would also allow students attending virtual school but not in-person classes to be exempted from vaccine requirements.
Dr. Lisa Costello, a pediatric hospitalist at WVU Medicine Children’s Hospital, said members of the medical community have followed this year’s legislation closely because immunizations are an area where the state leads the country. The state is among five that do not allow philosophical or religious exemptions to school mandated vaccine requirements.
“There have been many different medical groups following this and working and really… concerned about this because we know immunizations work: They are one of the most effective, cost-saving innovations that have been introduced in medicine,” Costello said.
“And we need high immunization rates in our communities to be able to keep some of these diseases out,” she said. “Measles is one of the most contagious so when you see those immunization rates drop, that’s why we see measles come into communities more and we’re seeing that around the country.”
The bill passed the Senate in the last hours of the 60-day legislative session Saturday night, over the objections of Sen. Mike Maroney, chairman of the Senate Health Committee. Maroney said that as a physician, he swore an oath to do no harm and “there is zero chance I could vote for this bill.”
“I know that there are members of the medical community who are going to urge the governor to veto this,” Costello said. “He, as a high school basketball coach, someone who has stressed his care for both children and the elderly in our communities and also making West Virginia a leader in so many areas, we’re certainly going to be urging him to veto this.
“Because this will take West Virginia from being a national leader to not,” she said. “And it’s going to really put communities at higher risk for diseases that we fortunately haven’t seen in West Virginia. We’re at higher risk now if this bill becomes law.”
A spokesperson for Justice did not respond to an email Monday asking if he plans to sign the bill. After the legislature is adjourned, Justice has 15 days to act on most bills.
Costello, along with Dr. Steven Eshenaur, health officer for the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department, testified against the bill before the Senate Health Committee last week.
Eshenaur said Monday he was disappointed to see the bill pass and plans to write a letter to Justice asking him not to sign the legislation. Eshenaur said he supports personal freedom, but not when it affects the whole of society.
“In history, we have had a number of restrictions on those with disease, whether it be sanatoriums for tuberculosis, or a colony for lepers, we as a human race felt that protecting the majority overruled even the individual’s personal rights,” Eshenaur said. “That’s why we have drunk driving laws, that’s why we have seat belt laws, because we want to protect individuals and the whole society both.”
Eshenaur said the state’s immunization laws kept polio out of West Virginia since 1970. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed a case of polio in 2022 in New York.
“We definitely don’t want [polio] back in West Virginia,” Eshenaur said.
Dr. Jacob Kilgore, a pediatric infectious disease physician for Marshall Health and a member of the advocacy team for the West Virginia Immunization Network, said he closely followed the bill.
“I’ve been so proud of West Virginia for leading in this space for many, many years regarding our vaccine recommendations and requirements to enter school,” Kilgore said. “Because they’re an important safety net for our children, especially those who have missed routine visits who have little access to care. It has a lot to do with health equity for those who can’t otherwise drive themselves to an appointment, etc, and for those families who maybe don’t have the means to always be able to do that.”
Under the bill, students who participate in activities sponsored by the West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission still are required to be vaccinated.
“But it just doesn’t entail sports, you could [have] other school-related activities — bands and choirs, but they’re going to be in the general community, and there are those who can’t vaccinate,” Kilgore said. “There are those who are vaccinated but don’t have the appropriate immune response.
“So it becomes consideration about our neighbors, and about trying to think about those other than self and thus the idea of public health and the grander good of the community,” he said. “So I think that’s my biggest concern.”
Kilgore said he treated a patient within the past year who died from a vaccine-preventable illness, something he said was devastating for the family and friends of the family.
“But for our staff, it’s hard to reconcile a beautiful life lost from something that seemingly could have been prevented,” Kilgore said.
Kilgore said he’s “vehemently” against the state rolling back vaccine requirements for private schools, but he’s not against discourse.
“I’m not against, by any means, allowing people to feel heard and feel empowered, but also realizing that there is evidence that supports vaccines — years and years worth of evidence that’s just sort of non-negotiable,” he said.
According to the West Virginia Department of Education, for the 2023-2024 school year, there are 12,494 non-public school students, not including homeschool students.
In an emailed statement, the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, which operates 24 elementary and high schools across the state, said it does not anticipate changing the schools’ vaccination policy, should the bill become law.
“Christ’s command to love our neighbor includes taking the proper steps to protect one another from harm and immunizations have a long and successful track record of protecting children,” said Tim Bishop, director of marketing and communications for the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston.
“The Catholic Church approves of immunizations as an aspect of its concern for both the individual and the common good and the current minimum requirements in place at Catholic schools are necessary to support an environment conducive to learning while seeking effective disease prevention for the children in our care,” he said.
Medical professionals call on Justice to veto school vaccine bill
ByWest Virginia Watch
Mar 12, 2024