DES MOINES (AP) — The number of parents seeking religious exemptions to Iowa vaccination requirements is still climbing despite health officials’ efforts to ease concerns about the shots.
Don Callaghan, who oversees immunization programs for the Iowa Department of Public Health, said “it’s not the trend we want to be seeing.”
A new state report says more than 6,700 Iowa schoolchildren obtained religious exemptions to vaccination this school year, up 13 percent from the year before and more than four times the number 15 years ago. The statewide increase wasn’t as big as Polk County’s 33 percent leap that was reported earlier this spring.
Iowa doesn’t make parents cite specific religious teachings for exemptions. The state merely requires a signed statement that immunization “conflicts with a genuine and sincere religious belief.” Public health officials have said that they’re unaware of any major religions that oppose vaccination.
Callaghan speculated that the exemption increase is fueled by families who don’t understand the dangers of some diseases because vaccines have kept the once-normal illnesses at bay.
Linn County Health Director Pramod Dwivedi said he believes many families who seek exemptions fear that vaccination causes autism, although multiple studies have shown that is not the case.
About 1.3 percent of Iowa schoolchildren now have religious exemptions to vaccination, compared with a national average of 1.5 percent, according to Callaghan. Another 0.4 percent of the state’s schoolchildren have medical exemptions to vaccination.
Callaghan believes the state will face more pressure to tighten restrictions on vaccination exemptions if the numbers continue to rise.