§ 37-10-401 — Responsibility of parents to have children immunized - Specific vaccines - Immunization registry

(a) It is the responsibility of each parent or legal guardian to ensure that such person's child or children receive the vaccines as are recommended by guidelines of the Center for Disease Control or the American Academy of Pediatrics to be administered to a child. The parent or legal guardian is encouraged to obtain the recommended immunizations within the first two (2) years of the child's life. Such vaccines include, without limitation, the following specific vaccines: (1) Diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP); (2) Polio: oral polio vaccine (OPV) or inactivated polio vaccine (IPV); (3) Measles-mumps-rubella (MMR); (4) Haemophilus influenzae type b conjugate vaccines (Hib); (5) Hepatitis B vaccine (Hep B); (6) Pneumoccocal vaccine, when medically indicated; (7) Influenza vaccine, when medically indicated; and (8) Varicella, when available. (b) Subject to availability of funding for such purpose, the department of health is authorized to provide free vaccine, through the first twenty-four (24) months of life, for Tennessee children born after January 1, 1996. If an administration fee is charged by a health provider receiving this vaccine, such fee may not exceed the administration fee established by the health care financing administration under the Vaccines for Children Program established in the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993. No immunization may be withheld due to a family's inability to pay the fee. (c) The department shall establish and maintain an immunization registry for children. By January 1, 1996, the department shall incrementally require all local public health departments to report, in a designated format, the record of each immunization given. Other health care providers or any third party payor or health insurance entity regulated by the department of commerce and insurance doing business in Tennessee, or any entity that has elected, organized and qualified as a self-insured entity may likewise report such records. Information from the registry shall be available to parents and legal guardians; health care providers; any third party payor or health insurance entity regulated by the department of commerce and insurance doing business in Tennessee; any entity that has elected, organized and qualified as a self-insured entity; and schools, child care facilities, and other institutions having care or custody of children. (d) The commissioner of health shall report to the members of the health committee of the house of representatives, and the health and welfare committee of the senate, by March 1 of each year, on the immunization rates in each county and improvements or changes made during the preceding year.

Legislative History

Amended by 2013 Tenn. Acts, ch. 236,s 54, eff. 4/19/2013. Acts 1993, ch. 377, § 1; 1995, ch. 537, §§ 1, 2; 2003, ch. 40, § 2; 2011, ch. 410, § 3(bb).