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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 religious exemption is a sworn paper called an affidavit.It says shots go against the teachings of your child's religion.Or it says shots go against your child's own sincere religious beliefs.For a minor, a parent or other legal representative signs it.It is signed in front of a notary. A notary is a person who watches you sign.The state health department has a form you can use.
You do
1.Fill out the state's affidavit form, or write one with the same words.2.Sign it in front of a notary.3.Keep it in your home school file.4.Give a copy to any other school your child joins.
The paper
notarized religious exemption affidavit (the state's form, or one the signer writes). There is no state form to fill in. A notary has to witness it. It does not expire. Open the form
Source. nebraskalegislature.gov, dhhs.ne.gov
Write the statement
Choice 2. 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 3. Medical exemption
The state says
A medical exemption is a signed statement from a health care provider.It can be a doctor, a physician assistant or an advanced practice nurse.It says shots would harm your child, or someone in your home.No notary is needed.The state health department has a form for it.
You do
1.Ask the provider to fill out the state's medical exemption form, or sign a statement.2.Keep it in your home school file.3.Give a copy to any other school your child joins.
The paper
signed statement from a physician, physician assistant, or advanced practice registered nurse. A doctor signs it. It does not expire. Open the form
Source. nebraskalegislature.gov

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

Nebraska

Your choices

Choice 1. Religious exemption

Choice 2. The shot record

Choice 3. Medical exemption

Good to know