This is stated in a letter sent this week to parents with a child at these schools and child centers (which also house childcare). As far as we know, Tabijn is the first school board in the Netherlands to ask the vaccination question when registering new students. Not vaccinating a child, just like refusing to answer the question, will have no consequences. Board chairman Carla Smits emphasizes in the letter that schools – due to compulsory education – have no option to refuse unvaccinated children.
Tabijn does want to ‘underline the importance and necessity of vaccination’. When asked, Smits says he is concerned about recent outbreaks of whooping cough and measles, such as in Eindhoven. In the Netherlands, four babies have already died from whooping cough in the past two months. The vaccination rate among the youngest age group (from 0 to 2 years) fell below 90 percent last year for the first time in decades. Pediatricians in the Netherlands this week called on parents to vaccinate their child according to the National Vaccination Program.
Tabijn’s 21 primary schools and child centers are mainly located in Castricum and Heemskerk. Some of these schools share a building with daycare for children from 0 to 4 years old. ‘Young and older children walk together there all day long, they are not separate worlds,’ says Smits. ‘From that perspective, we do not limit ourselves only to parents with very young children, who are at greatest risk, but to all parents.’
Extremely sensitive
Questions about vaccinations received are extremely sensitive. According to privacy legislation, this is only allowed if there is a ‘compelling’ and clearly communicated purpose in advance, responds the PO Council, the umbrella organization for primary education. ‘It must always be possible to demonstrate the usefulness and necessity’, emphasizes the spokesperson for Minister Mariëlle Paul (Primary and Secondary Education).
Because information about vaccinations falls under the category of special personal data, its use and storage are subject to very strict rules. “For example, the school must let parents know exactly what happens with this data and who has access to it,” the Dutch Data Protection Authority said.
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Tabijn board chairman Smits says that the question about vaccination will be asked verbally to parents. Nowhere is it recorded or otherwise recorded whether a child has been vaccinated, she emphasizes. ‘It is completely without obligation. If parents are open enough to say that they have not vaccinated their child, for the sake of the safety of our schools and childcare centers we will say: we believe vaccination is important.’
Within the law
This means that the school board remains within the law, says Martin Buijsen, professor of Health Law at Erasmus University in Rotterdam. According to Buijsen, Tabijn does nothing more than let it be known that they appreciate vaccinating children. ‘It would be different if such data were recorded or if children were denied access to schools. That is certainly not allowed.’
In the letter, the Tabijn board says it reserves the right to refuse children, ‘should this be necessary in a new phase, given national developments’. Although politicians are also concerned about the declining vaccination rate, a majority of the House of Representatives does not see any need for vaccinations for children in childcare.
Unlike, for example, Germany, Italy and the Czech Republic (where the obligation has been introduced), the Netherlands has never really been interested in a vaccination obligation, according to Professor Buijsen. Legally, there are no obstacles: in 2021, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that every child must be protected against serious diseases, through vaccination or herd immunity. According to the court, a vaccination obligation is also not in conflict with the European Convention on Human Rights. Buijsen: ‘The Netherlands attaches great importance to privacy and physical integrity.’
