State Vaccination Requirements and Exemption Law Database, 2011

The primary objective of this project was to prepare a complete and comprehensive database of state laws pertaining to immunization requirements and exemptions. To that end, the LexisNexis Academic search engine was used to search statutory and administrative materials for all 50 states and the District of Columbia, using the search term "immunization" together with other relevant terms. That search retrieved 1,991 laws whose characteristics were coded in the database by project staff. This data collection comprises a data file with the coded information and a ZIP archive which contains 1,991 PDF files with the full text of the laws.After an initial review, the project staff categorized the retrieved laws into three groups. Group 1 consists of laws not applicable to human immunization, such as laws related to immunity from prosecution, vaccination of animals, and state sovereign immunity. Group 2 comprises laws with provisions related to specific vaccination requirements and exemptions as to which vaccines should be given to whom. Lastly, Group 3 covers vaccination laws without provisions related to specific vaccination requirements or exemptions as to which vaccines should be given to whom, for example, laws with provisions for immunization registries, annual reporting requirements, and access to and financing of vaccines.The amount and type of information recorded about a law in the data file depends on its group classification. For every law in all three groups, the data file identifies the group, names the PDF file with the text of the law, and names the state to which the law applies. For Group 2 and Group 3, the data file also describes the topics covered by the law, the year it came into effect, and whether or not the law is current or repealed. Additional information for Group 2 describes target populations, target institutions, applicable vaccines, and exemption characteristics. The data file also includes brief textual descriptions of the Group 2 laws.