Five states — Alabama, Iowa, North Carolina, Oregon and Tennessee — either allow some ages in that group to consent for themselves or leave requirements up to individual vaccine providers.
Expanding authorization to people 12 to 15 opened Covid-19 vaccination to another 5% of the US population, nearly 17 million more people. But not all parents of people in that age group want their children to be vaccinated against Covid-19
Parental consent requirements for vaccines are decided by states.
“Each person has to go to their state,” she said. “Many places will say, ‘Your parent doesn’t need to be there, but your parent needs to have information or your parent needs to have signed off.’ So it really does vary by state.”
“It is expected that in the majority of instances, communication is shared with parent and guardians and parent/guardian consent is obtained for COVID-19 vaccination for people under 18,” the email said in part, adding, “As part of normal development, most children are able to understand and make decisions about their health some point before the age of 18. There is no one age at which this always occurs; it varies from child to child. Some vaccine providers may ask for written consent for people under age 18 who are consenting on their own.”
“The Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) requires consent for vaccines for persons up to 14 years of age. Of course, ADPH wants parents and guardians engaged in the healthcare of their children,” Dr. Karen Landers, a health officer within the department, wrote in an email to CNN.
Among the states that require parental consent to administer Covid-19 vaccines to ages 12 to 15, some noted rare exceptions to the requirement include if the person in that age group is married, pregnant or legally emancipated from their parents.
Where parental consent is required
Based on CNN’s outreach to health departments across all 50 states, here’s a list of where parental or guardian consent is now generally required for Covid-19 vaccinations among people ages 12 to 15:
- Alabama — Yes for younger than 14
- Alaska — Yes
- Arizona — Yes
- Arkansas — Yes
- California — Yes
- Colorado — Yes
- Connecticut — Yes
- Delaware — Yes
- Florida — Yes
- Georgia — Yes
- Hawaii — Yes
- Idaho — Yes
- Illinois — Yes
- Indiana — Yes
- Iowa — “It is up to each individual health care provider/health system”
- Kansas — Yes
- Kentucky – Yes
- Louisiana — Yes
- Maine — Yes
- Maryland — Yes
- Massachusetts — Yes
- Michigan — Yes
- Minnesota — Yes
- Mississippi — Yes
- Missouri — Yes
- Montana — Yes
- Nebraska — Yes
- Nevada — Yes
- New Hampshire — Yes
- New Jersey — Yes
- New Mexico — Yes
- New York — Yes
- North Carolina — No for teens
- North Dakota — Yes
- Ohio — Yes
- Oklahoma — Yes
- Oregon — Yes for younger than 15
- Pennsylvania — Yes
- Rhode Island — Yes
- South Carolina — Yes
- South Dakota — Yes
- Tennessee — Yes for younger than 14
- Texas — Yes
- Utah — Yes
- Vermont — Yes
- Virginia — Yes
- Washington — Yes
- West Virginia — Yes
- Wisconsin — Yes
- Wyoming — Yes
Additionally, some private businesses or pharmacies have their own rules.
“It does look like it varies in terms of the age of the child, the issues facing the child, for instance if they were emancipated,” she said. “So it does seem like in terms of routine childhood immunizations, it really varies quite a bit.”
“As a pediatrician, this is certainly not a new issue,” Costello told CNN about parental consent.
“Every state has different rules that they follow,” she said. “Each state has a little bit of differences — and that’s why individuals work at their local level to determine what is needed for their community.”
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