The Wisconsin Medical Society board opposes vaccine exemptions for religious or personal beliefs. It’s a policy adopted at the board’s recent meeting. Wisconsin is among 20 states that allow personal belief waivers for students.
“This is a difficult policy issue, but the physicians in this state, and the Wisconsin Medical Society, are coming down on the side of patients, trying to protect kids from communicable diseases any way that we can,” said Dr. Patrick Remington, a professor at the UW School of Medicine and member of the Medical Society.
The Society’s board also also supports making vaccination rates of public and private schools publicly available.
“If there are certain schools where the vaccination rate is low, a parent should know that they’re going into an environment that’s riskier for their child,” Remington said.