(a) The Commissioner of Public Health or his designee may, within the limitations of available resources, establish and maintain for the purpose of assuring timely childhood immunization an ongoing registry of all children who have not begun the first grade of school including all newborns. The registry shall include such information as is necessary to accurately identify a child and to assess current immunization status.

(b) For purposes of this section, “health care provider” means a person who has direct or supervisory responsibility for the delivery of immunization including licensed physicians, nurse practitioners, nurse midwives, physician assistants and nurses. Each health care provider who has provided health care to a child listed in the registry shall report to the commissioner, or the commissioner's designee, sufficient information to identify the child and the name and date of each vaccine dose given to that child or when appropriate, contraindications or exemptions to administration of each vaccine dose. Reports shall be made by such means determined by the commissioner to result in timely reporting. Each health care provider intending to administer vaccines to any child listed on the registry and each parent or guardian of such child shall be provided current information as contained in the registry on the immunization status of the child for the purposes of determining whether additional doses of recommended routine childhood immunizations are needed, or to officially document immunization status to meet state day care or school immunization entry requirements pursuant to sections 10-204a, 19a-79 and 19a-87b and regulations adopted thereunder. Each director of health of any town, city or health district and each school nurse who is required to verify the immunization status for children enrolled in prekindergarten to grade twelve, inclusive, at a public or private school in any town, city or school district pursuant to section 10-204a shall be provided with sufficient information on the children who live in his or her jurisdiction and who are listed on the registry to enable determination of which children are overdue for scheduled immunizations and to enable provision of outreach to assist in getting each such child vaccinated.

(c) Except as specified in subsections (a) and (b) of this section, all personal information including vaccination status and dates of vaccination of individuals shall be confidential pursuant to section 19a-25 and shall not be further disclosed without the authorization of the child or the child's legal guardian. The commissioner shall adopt regulations, pursuant to chapter 54, to specify how information on vaccinations or exemptions from vaccination is reported in a timely manner to the registry, how information on the registry is made available to health care providers, parents or guardians, directors of health and school nurses, how parents or guardians may decline their child's enrollment in the registry, and to otherwise implement the provisions of this section.

(P.A. 94-90, S. 1; P.A. 95-257, S. 12, 21, 58; P.A. 98-252, S. 35, 80; P.A. 08-184, S. 11; P.A. 14-231, S. 4.)

History: P.A. 95-257 replaced Commissioner and Department of Public Health and Addiction Services with Commissioner and Department of Public Health, effective July 1, 1995; P.A. 98-252 made a technical change in Subsec. (b), effective July 1, 1998; P.A. 08-184 amended Subsec. (c) by eliminating requirement that commissioner consult with state Childhood Immunization Advisory Council prior to adoption of regulations; P.A. 14-231 amended Subsecs. (b) and (c) by adding provisions re school nurse and making technical changes.