religious exemptions for vaccines

Federal Medicare and Medicaid regulations mandate staff vaccinations for employers that receive funding. But the high court ruled that Katlin Keeran was protected by a 2021 Kansas law making it illegal for employers to question the sincerity of religious beliefs for opting out of vaccines.

More Oklahoma children are entering kindergarten with exemptions from vaccines.

Faced with a skeptical religious community that became the center of the outbreak, public health officials say they may have pushed too hard on vaccine messaging.

A new county has joined the outbreak list this week. The Department of State Health Services confirmed four outbreak-linked cases in Fannin County. Fannin is next door to Lamar County, where the state confirmed five new measles cases this week.

The total number of confirmed cases linked to the region's measles outbreak is now up to 738.

Ninety- four people have been hospitalized with measles since it first broke out in Gaines County in January.

Gilbert Handal witnessed the devastating toll of measles on children in a Chilean hospital before the vaccine. Now, he warns of the dangers of forgetting that past.

The bill would allow a vaccine exemption form to be downloadable. Currently, a form must be requested from the state and mailed to the recipient.

Officials say an unvaccinated child in Sedgwick County has tested positive for measles.

Health care professionals said the only way to prevent measles is to receive two doses of the MMR vaccine. Measles complications can include pneumonia, hearing loss, meningitis, and death.