Posted inPublic Health

Gianforte administration opens door to religious vax exemptions in childcare

The state Department of Public Health and Human Services is declining to enforce vaccination requirements for licensed childcare facilities that grant religious exemptions to participants. The decision comes three months after the department proposed a formal rule to loosen religious exemption standards for childcare settings, a policy that was opposed by public health advocates and eventually blocked from going into effect by lawmakers on the health and human services interim committee until it could be reconsidered during the upcoming legislative session.