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Your choices

The law allows each choice below. Read what each one covers.

An exemption is a paper that says a shot rule does not apply to this person.

Before you decide: what each shot is for, and your rights

Choice 1. Religious exemption
The state says
A parent or guardian may object on religious grounds.You give the school a signed statement saying so.The law asks for no doctor and no notary.A notary is an official who watches you sign.You may write the statement yourself.Or you may use the state form.
You do
1.Write a short statement. Say you object to the shots on religious grounds.2.Name your child and sign it.3.Give it to the school office. Keep a copy.
The paper
a statement the parent writes. There is no state form to fill in. It does not expire. Open the form
Source. legislature.idaho.gov, healthandwelfare.idaho.gov, publicdocuments.dhw.idaho.gov
Write the statement
Choice 2. Personal belief exemption
The state says
The objection does not have to be religious.The law says "religious or other grounds."The same signed statement works for any reason.The state form lets you check a box.The box says you decline to give details.Then your child counts as exempt from all school shots.
You do
1.Write a short statement. Say you object to the shots.2.Name your child and sign it.3.Give it to the school office. Keep a copy.You may use the state form.
The paper
a statement the parent writes. There is no state form to fill in. It does not expire. Open the form
Choice 3. The shot record
You do
1.Ask the doctor's office or the health department for a copy.2.Put one copy for each student in your folder.
The paper
The shot record from the doctor's office or the health department.
Choice 4. Medical exemption
The state says
A doctor can excuse your child from some or all shots.The doctor must be licensed by the Idaho Board of Medicine.The doctor signs that the shots would put your child's life or health at risk.The state form has a medical part for this.The doctor marks it lasting for good, or until an end date.
You do
1.Print the state exemption form.2.Ask a physician to fill in and sign the medical part.The form says any licensed health care provider may sign.The law says a physician, so ask a physician.3.Sign the parent or guardian line yourself.4.Give it to the school office when your child enrolls.
The paper

Everywhere in America

Where a shot record actually gets asked for, and where it does not.

School enrollment: Enrolling a child in a school, public, private or religious, means handing that school an immunization certificate or an exemption, because each state writes its own school rule.
Licensed daycare and preschool: A state's school rule usually reaches licensed child care too, and the word that decides it is licensed. A drop in nursery or a parents day out below the licensing line is usually outside it.
Club and recreation sports: A club asks for age, fees and a sports physical. The playing rules US Youth Soccer publishes carry no immunization condition, and neither do Little League's published eligibility rules. A shot rule turns up when the venue does it: a school gym, a hospital, a licensed camp.
Scouting: Scouting America's annual health form asks for a tetanus shot within the last 10 years, and Scouting America publishes an immunization exemption request form for families who decline.
Summer camp: A camp accredited by the American Camp Association has to collect a health history from every camper, and the association's own guidance says a signed refusal counts as the record.
Dual enrollment: A community college course, and coursework taken online, often sits outside a state's college immunization law. North Carolina and Texas both write that exclusion into their own statutes.
Living on campus: Both of those statutes are written around the student who is on campus full time, so the moment to plan for is the first full time semester on a campus.
Enlisting: Nobody is turned away from enlistment for being unvaccinated. Recruits are immunized by the military in their first days of basic training.
Healthcare training: A nursing or allied health student can be admitted to the program and still be blocked from the clinical hours, because the clinical site, not the college, decides which exemptions it accepts.
Travel abroad: Some countries ask for proof of yellow fever vaccination on an international certificate before letting a traveler in. A doctor can write a medical waiver on that certificate, and the destination country may or may not accept it.

State Setup & Compliance

Idaho

Your choices

Choice 1. Religious exemption

Choice 2. Personal belief exemption

Choice 3. The shot record

Choice 4. Medical exemption

Good to know