Creative Commons License

Vaccines are prepared for students during a pop-up immunization clinic at the Newcomer Academy in Louisville, Ky., on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024. Credit: Mary Conlon / AP File Photo

Yes.

Connecticut laws establish vaccination requirements and exemptions for school children across the state, regardless of the type of school they attend.

General Statutes 10-204a states that local and regional school boards and any “similar body governing a nonpublic school or schools” require students to have certain immunizations like those protecting against measles, mumps, and polio before being permitted to enroll.

In 2021, lawmakers passed Public Act 21-6, which removed the option for new students to claim a religious exemption. There are only medical exemptions for students with documented medical contraindications to specific vaccines.

If the parents or guardian of any child aren’t able to pay for an immunization, General Statutes 10-204d mandates that “on the recommendation of” the school system’s governing body the immunization cost be paid by the town.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

CT Mirror partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims.

Sources

Mariana Navarrete Villegas is a Community Engagement Reporter for The Connecticut Mirror, covering Hartford. She recently graduated from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism with a master’s degree in Bilingual Journalism. Previously, she was the Community Engagement and Video Assistant at Epicenter-NYC and a Podcast Intern at The Take, Al Jazeera English’s daily news podcast. As a reporter, she has covered stories from New York to Florida, California, Panama, and Mexico, focusing on labor rights, immigration, and community care. She also hosts 'La Chismesita,' a community radio show in New York that archives oral histories through conversations with women community leaders. Originally from Mexico, Mariana spent her teenage years in Panama. She holds a B.A. in Global Studies with a minor in Psychology from Saint Leo University, where she interned at the International Rescue Committee.