EMERGENCY RULES
Date of Adoption: June 28, 2002.
Purpose: The emergency rule enables the state health officer to declare a vaccines shortage, and establish conditional status for children who may not receive required immunizations during a vaccine shortage. The rule will enable children who are not fully immunized to enter and attend school and licensed day care facilities until they can obtain full immunization status following the end of the vaccine shortage.
Citation of Existing Rules Affected by this Order: Amending WAC 246-100-166.
Statutory Authority for Adoption: RCW 28A.210.140.
Under RCW 34.05.350 the agency for good cause finds that immediate adoption, amendment, or repeal of a rule is necessary for the preservation of the public health, safety, or general welfare, and that observing the time requirements of notice and opportunity to comment upon adoption of a permanent rule would be contrary to the public interest.
Reasons for this Finding: This rule is necessary to preserve the general welfare of Washington citizens. There has been national vaccine shortages that may continue within the state for some time. It currently appears that the DTaP vaccine shortage will end by the end of the year. Without the option of using extended conditional status, some children may be unable to attend school or licensed day care facilities.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted at Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's Own Initiative: New 0, Amended 1, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted Using Negotiated Rule Making:
New 0,
Amended 0,
Repealed 0;
Pilot Rule Making:
New 0,
Amended 0,
Repealed 0;
or Other Alternative Rule Making:
New 0,
Amended 1,
Repealed 0.
Effective Date of Rule:
July 1, 2002.
June 28, 2002
Don Sloma
Executive Director
OTS-5741.2
AMENDATORY SECTION(Amending WSR 96-04-079, filed 2/7/96,
effective 3/9/96)
WAC 246-100-166
Immunization of child care and school
children against certain vaccine-preventable diseases.
(1)
Definitions for purposes of this section:
(a) "Certificate of immunization status (CIS) form" means a form provided by the department labeled DOH 348-013, including data entry spaces for immunization information including:
(i) Name of child or student,
(ii) Birth date,
(iii) Gender,
(iv) Type of vaccine,
(v) Date of each dose of vaccine received specifying day, month, and year,
(vi) Signature of parent, legal guardian, or adult in loco parentis, and
(vii) Documented exemptions, if applicable and as specified in subsection (5) of this section.
(b) "Chief administrator" means:
(i) The person with the authority and responsibility for the immediate supervision of the operation of a school, child care center, or
(ii) A designee of the chief administrator assigned in writing to carry out the requirements of RCW 28A.210.160 through the statutory or corporate board of directors of the school district or school, or
(iii) Person or persons with the authority and responsibility for the general supervision of the operation of the school district or school.
(c) "Child" means any person regardless of age admitted to any child care center, preschool, kindergarten, or grades one through twelve program of education in:
(i) Any public school district, or
(ii) Any private school or private institution subject to approval by the state board of education or described in RCW 28A.305.130 and 28A.195.010 through 28A.195.060, or
(iii) Any licensed child care facility which regularly provides care for a group of thirteen or more children for periods of less than twenty-four hours subject to licensure by the department of social and health services as described in chapter 74.15 RCW.
(d) "Full immunization" means vaccinated in accordance with schedules and immunizing agents approved by the state board of health in WAC 246-100-166 against:
(i) Diphtheria,
(ii) Tetanus,
(iii) Pertussis or whooping cough,
(iv) Measles or rubeola,
(v) Rubella,
(vi) Mumps,
(vii) Poliomyelitis,
(viii) Haemophilus influenzae type b disease, and
(ix) Hepatitis b, after September 1, 1997.
(e) "Immunizing agents" means any vaccine or other biologic licensed and approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), or meeting World Health Organization (WHO) requirements, for immunization of persons against:
(i) Diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (DTP, DT, Td);
(ii) Measles;
(iii) Mumps;
(iv) Poliomyelitis, types I, II, and III (TOPV, IPV);
(v) Rubella;
(vi) Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccine (Hib); and
(vii) Hepatitis b.
(f) "National immunization guidelines" means the schedule
for immunization described in the "Recommended Childhood
Immunization Schedule: United States -- ((January 1995)) December
2001," approved by the Advisory Committee on Immunization
Practices (ACIP), the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and
the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP).
(g) "Parent" means a person who is:
(i) The mother, father, legal guardian, or any adult in loco parentis of a child seventeen years of age or younger; or
(ii) A person eighteen years of age or older; or
(iii) An emancipated minor.
(h) "Transfer student" means a student previously enrolled in grades kindergarten through twelve moving from one school district or system to another at any time during the school year, excluding students transferring within a district or system when the school transfers records within the district.
(2) Full immunization schedule. Each child care center, preschool, and school shall establish and maintain requirements for full immunization of children attending child care and preschool through grade twelve.
(3) For child care and preschool children, full immunization
means a child received the age-appropriate vaccines as
((enumerated in the National Immunization Guidelines as defined))
required in subsection (1)(d) of this section at intervals
specified in the National Immunization Guidelines.
(4) For a child entering kindergarten or first grade (school
entry level), full immunization means a child received the
age-appropriate vaccines as ((enumerated in the National
Immunization Guidelines as defined)) required in subsection
(1)(d) of this section at intervals specified in the National
Immunization Guidelines.
For transfer students and those above kindergarten or first
grade, full immunization means a child received the
age-appropriate vaccines ((consistent with the National
Immunization Guidelines as defined)) required in subsection
(1)(d) of this section at intervals specified in the National
Immunization Guidelines (not required of persons eighteen years
of age and older).
(5) Conditions for child care, preschool, and school attendance when a child is not fully immunized:
(a) When a child lacks full immunization, the child care center, preschool, or school shall require satisfactory progress toward full immunization (conditional status) as a condition of school attendance including:
(i) Documented proof of start or continuance of child's schedule of immunization;
(ii) Assurance the scheduled immunization is consistent with the national immunization guidelines defined in subsection (1) of this section;
(iii) Notification of child's parent(s) of when the schedule must be completed; and
(iv) Exclusion of child from attendance as described in subsection (9) of this section if child has not received required immunizations on schedule and if sufficient time has elapsed (one month from date due) for completion of next dose.
(b) When the state health officer declares a shortage of specific vaccine(s) within the full immunization schedule under this section (conditional status).
(i) Only the state health officer may declare a shortage over.
(ii) A school or daycare may exclude a child if the child has not received required immunizations within sixty days from the date the health officer declares a shortage over.
(6) Schools, preschools, and child care centers shall require documented proof related to immunization including:
(a) Completion of a certificate of immunization status (CIS) form by a parent as documented proof of:
(i) Full immunization, or
(ii) Initiation or continuation of a schedule (conditional status), or
(iii) Exemption.
(b) Information from a written personal immunization record, as the source of the immunization data entered on the CIS form (substitution of a personal immunization record for a CIS form is prohibited);
(c) Acceptance of only the CIS form (no other state or local immunization forms) from new enrollees registering in kindergarten through grade twelve;
(d) In addition to current CIS form, acceptance of previous CIS forms, or locally developed forms approved by the department indicating the month and year of each immunization as the official immunization status for children enrolled prior to September 1, 1979.
(7) Schools, preschools, and child care centers shall accept medical exemptions and:
(a) Require a signature of a licensed medical doctor (M.D.), doctor of osteopathy (D.O.), doctor of naturopathy (N.D.), physician assistant, or nurse practitioner practicing within the limits of the medical or nurse practice acts to certify medical reasons to defer one or more immunizations on the CIS form;
(b) Admit children and keep on file a CIS form for children with:
(i) Temporary exemption from immunization for medical reasons if the required immunizations are received upon expiration of the exemption, or
(ii) Permanent exemptions.
(c) Include a statement on the CIS form informing the parent that should an outbreak of vaccine preventable disease for which the child is exempted occur, the child may be excluded from school or child care for the duration of the outbreak by order of the local health department as described in subsection (9) of this section; and
(d) Keep on file a list of children so exempted and transmit the list to the local health department if requested.
(8) Schools, preschools, and child care centers shall:
(a) Allow a parent to exempt his/her child from the required immunizations for religious, philosophical, or personal objections when the CIS form indicates:
(i) Type or exemption, and
(ii) Signature of parent.
(b) Keep on file a CIS form for each child so enrolled;
(c) Include a statement on the CIS form informing the parent that should an outbreak of vaccine preventable disease for which the child is exempted occur, the child may be excluded from school for the duration of the outbreak by order of the local health department as described in subsection (9) of this section; and
(d) Keep on file a list of children so exempted and transmit the list to the local health department if requested.
(9) Schools, preschools, and child care centers shall exclude children from school as follows:
(a) Exclude any child from school for failure to provide a completed CIS form as defined in subsection (1) of this section before or on the child's first day of attendance consistent with procedures required by the state board of education, Title 180 WAC;
(b) Exclude from attendance any child in a child care center for failure to provide a completed CIS form as defined in subsection (1) of this section before or on the child's first day of attendance;
(c) The chief administrator shall retain records on excluded children for at least three years including:
(i) Name,
(ii) Address, and
(iii) Date of exclusion.
(d) A health officer may exclude children from school, preschool, and child care attendance in the event of a child's exposure to a disease according to chapter 246-110 WAC, including children presenting proof of:
(i) Initiation of a schedule of immunization,
(ii) Medical exemption,
(iii) Religious exemption,
(iv) Philosophical exemption, or
(v) Personal exemption.
(10) Schools, preschools, and child care centers shall maintain records and require:
(a) A completed CIS form retained in the files for every child enrolled;
(b) Return of original CIS form or a legible copy to the parent in the event of the child's withdrawal or transfer from school (withholding a record for any reason, including nonpayment of school, preschool, or child care fees is prohibited);
(c) Access to immunization records by agents of the state or local health department for each child enrolled.
(11) Persons or organizations administering immunizations, either public or private, shall:
(a) Furnish each person immunized, or his or her parent, with a written record of immunization containing information required by the state board of health; and
(b) Provide immunizations and records in accordance with chapter 246-100 WAC.
(12) Chief administrators of schools, preschools, and child care centers shall forward a written annual report to the department and local health department on the immunization status of children as follows:
(a) For schools: By November 1 of each year on forms provided by the department (except in the event of a late school opening when the report is due thirty days after the first day of school);
(b) For preschools and child care centers: By February 1 of each year on forms provided by the department.
[Statutory Authority: RCW 28A.210.140. 96-04-079, § 246-100-166, filed 2/7/96, effective 3/9/96. Statutory Authority: RCW 28A.210.140 and 43.20.050. 91-15-066 (Order 182B), § 246-100-166, filed 7/22/91, effective 8/22/91. Statutory Authority: RCW 43.20.050. 91-02-051 (Order 124B), recodified as § 246-100-166, filed 12/27/90, effective 1/31/91; 88-07-063 (Order 308), § 248-100-166, filed 3/16/88.]