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Understanding Vaccination Laws In The State On This West Virginia Morning

On this West Virginia Morning, amidst a flurry of vaccine legislation, Appalachia Health News Reporter Emily Rice spoke with Dr. Susan Flesher, professor and chair of the Department of Pediatrics at Marshall University, for a conversation about vaccination laws in West Virginia.

On this West Virginia Morning, amidst a flurry of vaccine legislation, Appalachia Health News Reporter Emily Rice spoke with Dr. Susan Flesher, professor and chair of the Department of Pediatrics at Marshall University, for a conversation about vaccination laws in West Virginia.

Also, in this show, community air monitoring has been debated during this legislative session, and House Bill 5018 would restrict how data from air monitors could be used. But a Senate committee meeting that was expected to consider this legislation Tuesday was canceled, so the fate of the bill is uncertain.

Curtis Tate spoke with Morgan King, the West Virginia regional organizer for the Climate Reality Project, and Del. Evan Hansen, D-Monongalia, to get an update on that and other issues.

West Virginia Morning is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting which is solely responsible for its content.

Support for our news bureaus comes from Shepherd University.

Eric Douglas is our news director and producer.

Listen to West Virginia Morning weekdays at 7:43 a.m. on WVPB Radio or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode. #WVMorning

Private School, Religious Vaccine Exemptions Pass House

The West Virginia House of Delegates passed a bill that would grant youth vaccine exemptions for religious purposes, and give private, parochial and virtual schools priority over student vaccine requirements.

Some West Virginia schools could soon have more leniency over vaccine requirements.

House Bill 5105 would remove vaccine requirements for enrolling in private, parochial or virtual public schools in West Virginia.

It would also allow parents or guardians to exempt their child from vaccination because of their religious beliefs.

The bill narrowly passed the West Virginia House of Delegates on Monday, following a vote of 57 to 41. Two lawmakers did not vote.

The bill’s initial draft only applied to students enrolled in virtual public schools, but was amended to also include students in private or parochial schools earlier this month.

Currently, students must receive vaccines for several infectious diseases — like polio, measles and hepatitis B — regardless of the type of school they attend, unless they are homeschooled or medically exempt.

Under the bill, private, parochial and virtual schools would still have the authority to impose their own vaccine requirements. But these schools would have discretion over what vaccine requirements they have in place.

Proponents of the bill described it as a matter of personal choice and religious freedom.

Del. Laura Kimble, R-Harrison, serves as lead sponsor on the bill. Kimble said she drafted the bill after learning that students must be vaccinated to enroll in virtual public school programs, which she called “absurd.”

“We live in West Virginia. We live in the United States of America. We have rights. We have the constitution,” she said. “We acknowledge that we’re guaranteed the right to religious liberty, yet our West Virginia government has attempted to infringe on this right.”

Del. Larry Kump, R-Berkeley, said he does not consider himself anti-vaccine, but that he supports the bill as a matter of personal choice.

“Why should government mandates do this?” he asked fellow lawmakers on the House floor. “This is a personal property or personal liberty and accountability bill.”

But opponents on both sides of the aisle expressed concerns that increasing leniency over vaccines would hurt public health.

Some lawmakers said the success of decades-long vaccine campaigns has removed a sense of urgency in present-day thinking around public health.

“Vaccines have erased these diseases from our memory,” said Del. Ric Griffith, D-Wayne. “We don’t see them, so they don’t happen.”

Del. Anitra Hamilton, D-Monongalia, said vaccines are an important way to curb public health emergencies.

“At the end of the day, this is about protecting not only our children, because if your children catch something, they’re going to take it home to the family,” she said. “This will allow the vaccine to spread to local communities and businesses, and we don’t have enough childcare to support the illnesses that will come,” Hamilton said.

Del. James Akers, R-Kanawha, said he saw value in the state’s current vaccine mandate, and that the bill might also be unfair to families that cannot afford public education.

“I think that we are potentially creating an equal protection problem among schools, because we’ll have a situation where if a parent can afford to send their child to a private or parochial school, then they will not have to be immunized,” he said.

Akers also said he found the bill to be too far-reaching.

“I wish this bill was just about religious exemptions. I would press green every day,” Akers said. “But this bill goes beyond that, and I believe it does pose a risk to public health I simply can’t support.”

After more than two hours of intense debate, lawmakers narrowly approved the bill just days before the deadline for a bill to pass its initial chamber. The bill will now undergo further deliberation in the West Virginia Senate.

House Committee Moves To Change Vaccination Laws For Public Virtual Students

Children attending state-run virtual school may no longer have to be vaccinated if a House Health Committee becomes law.

The original version of House Bill 5105 would have exempted all students attending public virtual schools in the state from being vaccinated.

The number of students enrolled in virtual public school for the 2023-2024 school year is 245,047.

The bill was amended by inserting language that a child who participates in extracurricular activities at a public school must be immunized.

Delegates debated the safety and efficacy of vaccines with some asking why children are allowed to participate in church or vacations without vaccination.

Del. Steve Westfall, R-Jackson, said he has reservations about changing vaccination laws in West Virginia.

“I still have problems with voting for the weakened immunization system in West Virginia, I think it’s good,” Westfall said. “We have no measles outbreaks in West Virginia. Some of our surrounding states do. Pennsylvania has one right now – Philadelphia, but the purpose is I think trying to get some of its homeschoolers a better chance to have a better education.”

Dr. Steven Eschenaur, the public health officer for the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department was called before the committee to testify by Del. Mike Pushkin, D-Kanawha.

Pushkin asked if Eschenaur took issue with the amended version of the bill.

“From the amended amendment? I don’t see that big of an issue with it, because all of those kids that would be going to the public school, as I understand the amendment would still have to receive immunizations to protect all of those other kids from illness such as measles, mumps, rubella, etc.,” Eschenaur said.

Del. Dave Foggin, R-Wood, asked Eshenaur about immunity.

“Like I said, I’m not a doctor, I thought that if you have a group that’s vaccinated, they’re protected from the one that isn’t vaccinated,” Foggin said. “It’s just that was my understanding. You said it would protect this group from this one if this one is vaccinated.”

Eschenaur answered that if 100 children are vaccinated for measles, only about 97 incur immunity.

“So there are still a few kids in every school,” Eschenaur said. “That can be immuno-compromised, they could have a legitimate medical reason as to why they could not receive the vaccine, or they may not have developed the antibodies from the vaccine. So that’s why we want to keep that herd immunity over 95 percent.”

Del. Ric Griffith, D-Wayne, asked Eschenaur how contagious measles is.

“Measles is probably one of the most contagious diseases known to man,” Eschenaur answered. “Somebody could have walked in this room, left, and six hours later, somebody that is susceptible to measles walked in this room and contracted it. It is incredibly transmissible. That’s why we have seen so many outbreaks across the country. Why there are almost 10 states right now with current outbreaks.”

Eschenaur testified that there are measles outbreaks in all of West Virginia’s surrounding states, but none in West Virginia.

“There’s measles all around us, but not in West Virginia,” Eschenaur said. “Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, are battling these outbreaks. And we don’t want that here. It’s very contagious.”

Del. David Kelly, R-Tyler, asked Eschenaur why non-vaccinated children are allowed to intermingle with vaccinated children in places like church, vacations and little league baseball.

“It just seems kind of funny to me that we can do everything else in society,” Kelly said. “But when we send our kids to school, we’re back into school, or send them there to play sports. They can’t play sports, because a mom and dad said we don’t want them to be vaccinated. And I respect your opinion, I respect your position. But it just seems funny to me that we can do everything else. But when a child wants to play sports that hadn’t been vaccinated, then they have to be vaccinated.”

Del. Rolland Jennings, R-Preston, asked how many children have adverse effects from immunizations.

“That is sort of, that is a very broad question,” Eschenaur said. “And they are dependent on many factors. And I cannot give a specific number to that.”

Griffith cited seat belt laws as “general welfare” laws the government puts in place and compared it to the vaccination laws in West Virginia.

“A little league is not controlled by the state of West Virginia or the federal government, it’s parent’s choice,” Griffith said. “But when you put somebody in the public school system, and you threaten their lives, their welfare, their health, it’s the general welfare, and that’s why we have these things.”

The bill passed, as amended, and was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting with support from Charleston Area Medical Center and Marshall Health.

Lawmakers Discuss Vaccination Laws

West Virginia allows for medical exemptions to vaccines but does not allow for exemptions based on religious or philosophical beliefs. Some lawmakers would like to see those laws change.

West Virginia lawmakers discussed medical exemptions with vaccine experts during a meeting of the West Virginia Legislature’s Joint Committee on Children and Families.

West Virginia allows for medical exemptions to vaccines but does not allow for exemptions based on religious or philosophical beliefs.

According to Shannon Kolman, senior policy specialist in the National Conference of State Legislatures’ Health Program, vaccinations are required when a child is enrolled in a public school.

“Some states specifically spell out which vaccines are required in statutes, and other states refer to an administrative body such as the Department of Health or the Department of Education to adopt rules regarding which vaccines will be required,” Kolman said. “Some examples are states like West Virginia, also including Kentucky, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania, expressively list the vaccines that are required for school in statute.”

However, a parent or guardian is able to apply for a medical exemption to vaccination through a physician.

“All states have immunization laws for school entry that grant exemptions to children for medical reasons,” Kolman said. “So if the vaccine is medically contraindicated, every state allows a child to have an exemption for medical reasons.”

Some lawmakers would like to see vaccination laws changed in the state. Sen. Michael Azinger, R-Wood, spoke against vaccine laws during the meeting.

“We live in America, and if a parent says they don’t want their kid to have a vaccine, they have a constitutional right to do that,” Azinger said. “And here we sit one of these little clumps of states that say that you can’t have a religious exemption. Lord have mercy. Our country was founded on religion, right? The First Amendment, and here we have this, this doctor who’s a very intelligent guy, and I appreciate him coming. But how in God’s name, do you think ‘Doc’ and these folks that DHHR, have the right to tell the parents that they have to vaccinate their children?”

Dr. Joseph Evans, former chief medical officer of Marshall Health and former chair of the Department of Pediatrics at Marshall University, said the World Health Organization has identified vaccine hesitancy as one of the top 10 threats to global health.

“Thanks to our vaccine laws, our state is among the best and safest from vaccine-preventable illness,” Evans said. “We are a model for other states trying to decrease vaccine-preventable diseases. And therefore I think we need to keep our vaccine laws. If it’s not broke, don’t fix it.”

Sen. Patricia Rucker, R-Jefferson, questioned Evans on the efficacy of vaccines.

“So you do make it sound that having this vaccination just provides a protection,” Rucker said. “Have you not ever heard of people getting an illness even though they were vaccinated against it and actually some getting the illness from the vaccine?”

Evans responded, “Well, you don’t get the illness from the vaccine.”

Rucker replied: “That has happened. That has been documented that some folks can trace back their illness to the vaccine.”

Rucker did not cite her source, but the Centers For Disease Control (CDC) studies the adverse effects of vaccines.

Shannon McBee, state epidemiologist, explained the process of compulsory school immunization law exemption to members of the committee.

“West Virginia is considered to have an exemplary immunization model with no recorded outbreaks of measles,” McBee said. “The most common requests that are approved by the Bureau for Public Health are for children who have immunosuppressive medications or have a documented severe reaction to a vaccine or a recipient of an organ transplant.”

Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting with support from Charleston Area Medical Center and Marshall Health.

Federal Funding To Bolster Health Care In W.Va.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has invested nearly $3.5 million in West Virginia to support statewide hospital emergency preparedness efforts, vaccinate children and build a public health arthritis program.

According to a press release from Sen. Joe Manchin’s office, the money will be split between three initiatives:

Immunization and vaccines for children initiatives will receive the most funding, at $1.8 million.
The hospital preparedness program will receive $1.4 million
State public health approaches to addressing arthritis will receive $225,000.

“Making these critical investments in all stages of our healthcare infrastructure will ensure West Virginians have the resources they need to thrive and prosper,” Manchin said. “I’m pleased HHS is investing nearly $3.5 million in these three initiatives, and I look forward to seeing the positive impacts these investments will have on the health and well-being of our communities.”

Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting with support from Charleston Area Medical Center and Marshall Health.

State Officials Warn Of Post-Holiday COVID-19 Surge

While reports of COVID fatalities have slowed down over the holidays, state officials are asking the public to prepare for a surge and report any illness to their physicians.

Despite the encouraging news that no new COVID-19 fatalities have been reported in the last 11 days, state officials are asking the public to prepare for a surge and report any illness to their physicians.

In a press briefing Tuesday, Gov. Jim Justice, Interim Head of the DHHR Jeff Coben and Ret. Gen. James Hoyer encouraged the public to stay vigilant as fear of a post-holiday surge in cases mounts.

“I also remind you about getting your flu shot, you know, whether it be this RSV or flu or COVID,” Justice said. “There’s three things going around and pretty nasty stuff, and everything, but protect yourself as best you possibly can. We all know that wintertime is with us.”

Hoyer pointed out a vulnerable age group shown in new data from West Virginia University (WVU).

“As we continue to manage COVID and stay in this study phase, what we see is that the bulk of our hospitalizations tend to be people aged 65 and above as we pointed out, as well as with the fatalities, but what we see in the surge periods is a greater increase in hospitalizations of people in the age group 50 to 59,” Hoyer said.

State officials asked the public to stay up to date on their vaccinations, and to not depend solely on at-home tests and report any illness or positive test to their physician.

“The good news is that the numbers right now are manageable,” Hoyer said. “But as pointed out, we can continue to get people to take those vaccinations, whether it’s a flu vaccine, the COVID vaccine. Those will help us blunt those particular surges and allow us to manage our way through this more effectively.”