D.C. law would allow children as young as 11 to consent to vaccine injections

A law proposed in the Washington, D.C. municipal council would permit residents as young as 11 years old to be injected with vaccines so long as they were deemed capable of consenting to the injection. 

The proposed bill, B23-0171 would direct that "a minor, eleven years of age or older, may consent to receive a vaccine where the minor is capable of meeting the informed consent standard, and the vaccine is recommended by the United States Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices."

The injection of a vaccine into the minor would also have to be "in accordance with ACIP’s recommended immunization schedule," the bill further stipulates. 

An official with the D.C. city council confirmed to Just the News that the bill is under consideration and will be addressed at a meeting next Thursday. 

The law appears to preempt parental notification of any vaccinations obtained by minors under its provisions: It directs providers who administer the injections to "seek reimbursement, without parental consent, directly from the insurer," it forbids insurers from sending explanation-of-benefit notifications in the event of such services, and it directs health providers to "submit the immunization record directly to the minor’s school," and orders the school to keep such records confidential apart from sharing it with certain health authorities. 

It also orders that "a minor who receives services provided under the authority of this subsection shall have access to their immunization records without parental consent."