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New York state vaccination law
Updated 4-10-2007
(Note: Parts 6 - 9 address exemptions)
� 2164. Definitions; immunization against poliomyelitis, mumps,
measles, diphtheria, rubella, varicella, Haemophilus influenzae type b
(Hib), pertussis, tetanus, pneumococcal disease, and hepatitis B.
1. As used in this section, unless the context requires otherwise:
a. The term "school" means and includes any public, private or
parochial child caring center, day nursery, day care agency, nursery
school, kindergarten, elementary, intermediate or secondary school.
b. The term "child" shall mean and include any person between the ages
of two months and eighteen years.
c. The term "person in parental relation to a child" shall mean and
include his father or mother, by birth or adoption, his legally
appointed guardian, or his custodian. A person shall be regarded as the
custodian of a child if he has assumed the charge and care of the child
because the parents or legally appointed guardian of the minor have
died, are imprisoned, are mentally ill, or have been committed to an
institution, or because they have abandoned or deserted such child or
are living outside the state or their whereabouts are unknown, or have
designated the person pursuant to title fifteen-A of article five of the
general obligations law as a person in parental relation to the child.
d. The term "health practitioner" shall mean any person authorized by
law to administer an immunization.
* 2. Every person in parental relation to a child in this state shall
have administered to such child an adequate dose or doses of an
immunizing agent against poliomyelitis, mumps, measles, diphtheria,
rubella, varicella, Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), pertussis,
tetanus, pneumococcal disease, and hepatitis B, which meets the
standards approved by the United States public health service for such
biological products, and which is approved by the department under such
conditions as may be specified by the public health council.
* NB Effective until September 1, 2007
* 2. a. Every person in parental relation to a child in this state
shall have administered to such child an adequate dose or doses of an
immunizing agent against poliomyelitis, mumps, measles, diphtheria,
rubella, varicella, Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), pertussis,
tetanus, pneumococcal disease, and hepatitis B, which meets the
standards approved by the United States public health service for such
biological products, and which is approved by the department under such
conditions as may be specified by the public health council.
b. Every person in parental relation to a child in this state born on
or after January first, nineteen hundred ninety-four and entering sixth
grade or a comparable age level special education program with an
unassigned grade on or after September first, two thousand seven, shall
have administered to such child a booster immunization containing
diphtheria and tetanus toxoids, and an acellular pertussis vaccine,
which meets the standards approved by the United States public health
service for such biological products, and which is approved by the
department under such conditions as may be specified by the public
health council.
* NB Effective September 1, 2007
3. The person in parental relation to any such child who has not
previously received such immunization shall present the child to a
health practitioner and request such health practitioner to administer
the necessary immunization against poliomyelitis, mumps, measles,
diphtheria, Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), rubella, varicella,
pertussis, tetanus, pneumococcal disease, and hepatitis B as provided in
subdivision two of this section.
4. If any person in parental relation to such child is unable to pay
for the services of a private health practitioner, such person shall
present such child to the health officer of the county in which the child
resides, who shall then administer the immunizing agent without charge.
5. The health practitioner who administers such immunizing agent against
poliomyelitis, mumps, measles, diphtheria, Haemophilus influenzae type b
(Hib), rubella, varicella, pertussis, tetanus, pneumococcal disease, and
hepatitis B to any such child shall give a certificate of such immunization
to the person in parental relation to such child.
6. In the event that a person in parental relation to a child makes
application for admission of such child to a school or has a child attending
school and there exists no certificate or other acceptable evidence of the
child's immunization against poliomyelitis, mumps, measles, diphtheria,
rubella, varicella, hepatitis B, pertussis, tetanus, and, where applicable,
Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) and pneumococcal disease, the principal,
teacher, owner or person in charge of the school shall inform such person of
the necessity to have the child immunized, that such immunization may be
administered by any health practitioner, or that the child may be immunized
without charge by the health officer in the county where the child resides,
if such person executes a consent therefor. In the event that such person
does not wish to select a health practitioner to administer the immunization,
he or she shall be provided with a form which shall give notice that as a
prerequisite to processing the application for admission to, or for continued
attendance at, the school such person shall state a valid reason for withholding
consent or consent shall be given for immunization to be administered by a health
officer in the public employ, or by a school physician or nurse. The form shall
provide for the execution of a consent by such person and it shall also state
that such person need not execute such consent if subdivision eight or nine of
this section apply to such child.
7. (a) No principal, teacher, owner or person in charge of a school shall permit
any child to be admitted to such school, or to attend such school, in excess of
fourteen days, without the certificate provided for in subdivision five of this
section or some other acceptable evidence of the child's immunization against
poliomyelitis, mumps, measles, diphtheria, rubella, varicella, hepatitis B,
pertussis, tetanus, and, where applicable, Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib)
and pneumococcal disease; provided, however, such fourteen day period may be
extended to not more than thirty days for an individual student by the
appropriate principal, teacher, owner or other person in charge where such
student is transferring from out-of-state or from another country and can show
a good faith effort to get the necessary certification or other evidence of
immunization. (b) A parent, a guardian or any other person in parental
relationship to a child denied school entrance or attendance may appeal by
petition to the commissioner of education in accordance with the provisions of
section three hundred ten of the education law.
8. If any physician licensed to practice medicine in this state certifies that
such immunization may be detrimental to a child's health, the requirements of
this section shall be inapplicable until such immunization is found no longer
to be detrimental to the child's health.
8-a. Whenever a child has been refused admission to, or continued attendance at,
a school as provided for in subdivision seven of this section because there exists
no certificate provided for in subdivision five of this section or other acceptable
evidence of the child's immunization against poliomyelitis, mumps, measles,
diphtheria, rubella, varicella, hepatitis B, pertussis, tetanus, and, where
applicable, Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) and pneumococcal disease, the
principal, teacher, owner or person in charge of the school shall:
a. forward a report of such exclusion and the name and address of such child to
the local health authority and to the person in parental relation to the child
together with a notification of the responsibility of such person under subdivision
two of this section and a form of consent as prescribed by regulation of the
commissioner, and
b. provide, with the cooperation of the appropriate local health authority, for a
time and place at which an immunizing agent or agents shall be administered, as
required by subdivision two of this section, to a child for whom a consent has been
obtained. Upon failure of a local health authority to cooperate in arranging for a
time and place at which an immunizing agent or agents shall be administered as
required by subdivision two of this section, the commissioner shall arrange for such
administration and may recover the cost thereof from the amount of state aid to which
the local health authority would otherwise be entitled.
9. This section shall not apply to children whose parent, parents, or guardian hold
genuine and sincere religious beliefs which are contrary to the practices herein required,
and no certificate shall be required as a prerequisite to such children being admitted or
received into school or attending school.
10. The commissioner may adopt and amend rules and regulations to effectuate the
provisions and purposes of this section.
11. Every school shall annually provide the commissioner, on forms provided by the
commissioner, a summary regarding compliance with the provisions of this section.
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