Daycare & K-12 Schools

A vaccine exemption is for those who do not vaccinate or selectively vaccinate. It is to be used in place of an immunization record, for daycares, preschools and/or K-12 schools that are licensed or certified through the state.

Religious Exemption: The state provided form for religious exemptions is EPID 230A "Commonwealth of Kentucky Parent Form EPID 230A or Guardian’s Declination on Religious Grounds to Required Immunizations." This is the form to provide to daycares, preschools, and K-12 schools in place of an immunization record. The form can be found on the website for the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services or at kmfc.org.

The parent or guardian must initial and date beside each vaccine being declined and sign the form in front of a notary public. No medical provider signature is required as of 2017.

Medical Exemptions: The state form, EPID 230 the "Kentucky Certificate of Immunization Status," contains a checkbox for "Medical Exemption." This is the same form used to document all vaccines that a child has received.

​The form can be signed by a physician, APRN, PA, pharmacist, LHD administrator, RN or LPN designee. This is done entirely at the provider's discretion. Medical exemptions are infrequently given, as most providers are reluctant to sign off on them. ​An ideal situation would be to have both a written statement from your child's provider as well as the signed EPID 230.

Visit out Daycare Preschool K-12 Exemptions page for more information.

Postsecondary Education

Kentucky currently has no state laws that apply to vaccinations in postsecondary educational institutions (colleges/universities, etc). However, most schools do recognize religious and medical exemptions. Each school has its own process for this. There is no standardized statewide form.

Long-Term Care Facilities

Per KRS 209.552, all residents and employees of long-term care facilities are required to receive vaccinations for pneumococcal disease and influenza. The statute allows for medical and religious exemptions, or if the employee or resident refuses the vaccine after being fully informed of the health risks.

Workplace

Kentucky currently has no state laws that apply to vaccinations in the workplace. However, there are two types of workplace exemptions under federal law: medical exemptions and religious accommodations/exemptions.

Medical exemptions fall under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), apply to companies with more than 15 employees, and almost always require a note from a licensed medical provider. If you think you qualify for a medical exemption, inquire with your employer about their process.

Religious exemptions fall under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin.

Under this provision, you are asking your employer to "reasonably accommodate" your personal sincerely held religious beliefs. If you think you qualify for a religious exemption, inquire with your employer about their process.

As a part of your employer’s process, you most likely will need to write a statement or letter detailing your personal sincerely held religious beliefs and why the requirement is contrary to your beliefs. This is a personal statement, and you should NEVER copy language from another source or use a standard letter template. Visit our Workplace Exemptions page for resources.

Powers of the State in an Epidemic

In 2021, Senate Bill 8 (SB8) was passed by the legislature and became law. It amended pre-existing Kentucky law KRS 214.036 that gives the Cabinet for Health and Family Services the ability to require the vaccination “of all persons within the area of epidemic, against the disease responsible for such epidemic.”

This legislation created exemptions for reasons of medical contraindication, objection on religious grounds, or objection due to conscientiously held beliefs for any vaccine that might be mandated by the state, now or in the future, due to an epidemic/pandemic. If a vaccine were to become mandated by the state, the state would be required to create and make available a standard exemption form.

Currently, there is a form on the KY Cabinet for Health and Family Services website titled, “Declination of Mandatory Epidemic-Related Vaccine.” This form was created in haste after the passage of SB8 and did not follow the proper regulatory approval process. Because there are no vaccines mandated by the state for all citizens, there is no situation in which this form is currently applicable.