Washington state surveys parents to ask if COVID vaccines should be mandatory for school children

The Washington State Board of Health (BOH) is asking for parents and caregivers to complete a survey asking if the state should make the coronavirus vaccine a requirement for attending school and to evaluate "...the burden of compliance for the vaccine containing this antigen is reasonable for the parent/caregiver."

The BOH sent emails out last week asking parents and caregivers to answer five questions regarding a potential vaccine requirement for attending public schools and daycares.

The five questions on the survey entitled Caregivers & Parents Survey: COVID-19 Vaccine as a School Requirement are:

• Would adding COVID-19 vaccine as a requirement for school entry make you more or less likely to get your child vaccinated?
• How burdensome would an additional immunization requirement for school entry be for you and your family?
• What are some of the barriers you face to getting your child vaccinated against COVID-19?
• What are some of the benefits you see to vaccination? Do the possible benefits of vaccinating your child against COVID-19 reduce the impact of identified burdens of obtaining the vaccine?
• Do you believe adding COVID-19 vaccine as an immunization requirement for school entry is reasonable? Why or why not?

The survey was not posted on the BOH website until a week after the emails were sent.

The survey was created by a technical advisory group (TAG) working to review the coronavirus vaccine against nine criteria to assess and evaluate the COVID-19 vaccine as a requirement for entry to schools and daycares and provide a recommendation to the Board of Health.

According to the BOH landing page for the survey, "Under state law the Board has the authority to create immunization requirements for child care and/or school entry. Since 2006, the Board has relied on multi-disciplinary TAGs to review vaccines against nine criteria to recommend to the Board whether specific immunizing agents should be added to the list of required immunizations for school entry. The Board’s Immunization Criteria Document provides details about the TAG process and outlines the method by which a vaccine would be reviewed. Vaccines currently required for school and daycare entry are listed in chapter 246-105 WAC."

"TAG membership consists of representatives from schools, childcare centers, public health, healthcare providers, tribes, community members who identify and/or directly serve communities disproportionally impacted by COVID-19, and parent representatives."

Earlier this month, the Washington State Board of Health was inundated with more than 30,000 public comments and over 8,000 people attended a virtual meeting of the board after news of the possible mandate was revealed.

The Board of Health claims that the purpose of the survey is to gather feedback regarding the burden requiring the COVID-19 vaccine will place on families, and caregivers. "Knowing that adding COVID-19 vaccine as a requirement for school entry will impact families across the state, we are asking for your input on the barriers you may face to getting your kids vaccinated and how burdensome a COVID-19 vaccine requirement may be for you and your family."