West Virginia on Track to Expand Childhood Vaccine Exemptions

Newly elected West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey, within a day of inauguration, issued an executive order¹ to establish a process for religious and conscientious objections to state school or state regulated day care center vaccination requirements.

This is great news for families in West Virginia who, up to this point, have only had limited medical exemptions available.² Since 2011, NVIC has analyzed and tracked on the NVIC Advocacy Portal over 40 bills attempting to expand vaccine exemptions, including HB5105.³ which was vetoed by the previous governor Jim Justice on March 27, 2024.

Several introductory statements in the Jan. 14^th order explain the governor’s reasoning for his actions including the fact that even after the enactment of the Equal Protection for Religion Act of 2023, W. Va. Code §35-1A-1 (2023), “the compulsory immunization law is still being used to bar West Virginians with religious and moral objections to vaccines from sending their children to state schools.”

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