Texas has made it easier for parents to exempt their children from school-required immunizations, even as the state emerges from the nation’s largest measles outbreak in three decades and COVID-19 indicators tick upward again.
On September 1, a new law took effect allowing families to download the state’s conscientious-exemption affidavit directly from the internet. This replaces a mail-only process that often took weeks. Parents must still have the form notarized and submit it to schools, but health officials and advocates agree the change reduces friction in opting out.
The law, House Bill 1586, directs the Department of State Health Services (DSHS) to post a printable affidavit online and bars collection of personally identifying information from people who access it.
Supporters frame the shift as a win for parental rights; public-health groups warn it could drive exemptions higher.
DSHS announced in August that the West Texas measles outbreak had ended after 42 days with no new cases. The surge infected 762 Texans, hospitalized 99, and killed two unvaccinated school-aged children with no known underlying conditions, according to state data.
Health officials emphasized that the end of the outbreak does not end the risk, urging two doses of MMR as the best protection.
The timing of Texas’ easier exemption process has sharpened an already polarized debate.
Rebecca Hardy, executive director of Texans for Vaccine Choice, called the new law an “empowering change,” arguing the old request-by-mail system was outdated and burdensome.
Advocacy groups that promote immunization counter that convenience for opt-outs could erode herd immunity, especially in communities where kindergarten MMR coverage has already slipped below the 95% threshold long used to prevent sustained transmission.
The Texas Tribune reported exemption requests jumped 36% year-over-year in July even before the downloadable form went live.
At the federal level, access to COVID-19 shots is simultaneously narrowing. In late August, the Food and Drug Administration approved updated coronavirus vaccines, but limited routine use to people 65 and older and younger individuals with defined high-risk conditions.
This is a departure from prior seasons’ broad recommendations. Public health experts and physician groups say the change, combined with a lack of clear CDC recommendations, has produced confusion at pharmacies and inconsistent insurance coverage for those under the age of 65.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has defended the approach, but news reports document people being turned away or required to secure prescriptions, even within the same state.
Those policy shifts arrive as signs point to another late-summer COVID uptick. National wastewater analyses show SARS-CoV-2 levels have been rising into late August, and CDC modeling estimates infections are growing in about half of U.S. states.
Hospitalizations remain far below prior peaks but have recently edged up from early-summer lows.
Guests:
Dr. Erin Carlson is the Clinical Professor Director at the Graduate Public Health Programs College of Nursing and Health Innovation UT Arlington.
Terri Burke is the Executive Director of The Immunization Partnership.
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This interview will air live Monday, September 8, 2025.
