Hearing set on vaccine exemptions

Lawmakers who have called for an end to the state’s religious exemption on vaccines scheduled a public hearing for Monday on the issue, a possible first step in introducing 11th hour legislation to repeal the provision.

Buoyed by data released last week by the Connecticut Department of Public Health, which showed a slew of schools with kindergarten immunization rates below the 95 percent threshold recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, legislators said they have accelerated their timetable for eliminating the exemption.

“Based upon the information we’ve received, there’s a growing group of legislators that think we may have to act this session,” House Majority Leader Matthew Ritter, D-Hartford, said. “We want to have the hearing and see where it goes.”

The hearing will run from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday in room 2E of the Legislative Office Building. Ritter organized the event with Rep. Liz Linehan, D- Cheshire; Rep. Jonathan Steinberg, D-Westport, a co-chair of the legislature’s Public Health Committee; Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, D-Norwalk; and Sen. Derek Slap, D-West Hartford.

Ritter stopped short of saying when legislation might be introduced to repeal the religious exemption, or what vehicle lawmakers would use to do this. There are less than four weeks left in the legislative session.

The overall immunization rate of Connecticut students is more than 98 percent, but data show a surprising number of schools with high rates of unvaccinated children, some exempted for either medical or religious reasons and others unexplained.