If you see another common reason for refusal in your practice, please e-mail cispimmunize@aap.org and let us know. Staff will be happy to do research and post resources for that argument on this page.

AAP Refusal to Vaccinate Form (pdf)
Health care providers may decide it is in their best interest to formally document a parent's refusal to accept vaccination for a minor child. This form, which should not be considered a legal document without advice from a lawyer, may be used as a template for such documentation. A Microsoft Word version of the form is available by clicking here.

• AAP Clinical Report, Responding to Parental Refusals of Immunization of Children

Coding Resources For Parental Refusal to Vaccinate

Sample Office Policy/Letter to Parents about Refusal to Vaccinate (Click here for Word document) (6/9/08) This posting is not official Academy policy. Some pediatric practices have chosen not to accept patients who do not vaccinate, and this is a sample of how one practice addresses the issue.

• Sample Office Poster- My Kids are Vaccinated!

Safety Handout for Parents (8/18/08)

The Academy leadership is working diligently with other immunization advocacy groups, public health agencies and communication specialists to promote the value and safety of immunizations to the general public.  We are also trying to convince the federal government to invest more resources in educating the public about immunization efficacy and the federal vaccine safety system.  While these national efforts are developing and strengthening, it is very important that we educate our patients' families, one by one, and now, about the value and safety of immunizations.  We hope that you can use this back-and-front one-page resource to promote the immunization program to the families of your patients. ~Dave Tayloe, President-Elect, American Academy of Pediatrics

Protecting the Public Trust in Immunization (7/14/08)

Resources for Health Care Providers

• Providers Guide: Helping Parents Who Question Vaccines (Exit Site)
• Strategies for Addressing Concerns of Vaccine-Hesitant Parents
• Responding to 7 Parental Concerns Regarding Vaccination
• Six Common Misconceptions About Vaccination and How to Respond to Them (Exit Site)

Articles for Health Care Providers

• When Parents Resist Immunization (Exit Site)
• Vaccine Beliefs of Parents Who Oppose Compulsory Vaccination Reproduced by Permission of Public Health Reports.120(3):252-258, Copyright 2005.
• Addressing Parents’ Concerns: Do Multiple Vaccines Overwhelm or Weaken the Infant’s Immune System?
• Chiropractors and Vaccination: A Historical Perspective Reproduced by Permission of Pediatrics. Volume 105, Page e43, Copyright 2000.
  

Resources for Common Reasons for Refusal

Concerns about use of aborted fetuses in vaccines

• Response from the Vatican (Exit Site)
• Immunization Action Coalition Resources - scroll to "Religious/Ethical Issues and Immunization" (Exit Site)
• National Network for Immunization Information (Exit Site)

Concerns about use of pork in gelatin in vaccines

• Response from Rabbi Abraham Adler
• Response from Islamic Organization for Medical Science

Concerns about thimerosal or MMR vaccine causing autism