Illinois Public Health Managers Eye Religious Vaccine Exemption

Families in Illinois may soon no longer get to claim a religious exemption for vaccines. The head of the Illinois Department of Public Health, Dr. Ngozi Ezike says the state is looking at whether Illinois should allow families to claim a religious exemption. The fear comes as the state is close to falling below the 95-percent vaccinated rate that public health officials say protects all school kids. About 45-thousand of Illinois’ two-million school kids didn’t have all of their shots last year, but not all because their parents claimed a religious exemption.