Children who won’t be vaccinated could be banned to attend school or kindergartens, reads a draft tabled by the Romanian Health Ministry. The bill also stipulates that nine types of vaccines should be mandatory, namely the ones included in the current national vaccination scheme, which are administered to prevent diseases that can lead to serious complications or event to death. Parents can be severely punished for not taking their kids to be vaccinated.
So, according to the draft, nine vaccines are compulsory: the one against hepatitis B, BCG vaccine that prevents complications produced by tuberculosis, diphtheria, tetanus, hooping cough, poliomyelitis and ROR vaccine, against rubella, mumps and German measles.
If parents refuse vaccination, their children will be denied from being admitted in schools and kindergartens. If the parents won’t write down their refuse, the child will be vaccinated without his parents being previously informed.
The school can accept a child who is not vaccinated with only one condition:provided that he catches up with all vaccines during a year time since the enlistment. If this doesn’t happen, the school has the right to expel him.
The schools will be fined if they accept to enlist children who fail their vaccines. Fines range from RON 5,000 to 10,000.
The parents who don’t vaccinate their children up to three years will undergo psychological counselling. If they persist in denying the vaccines, they could be charged with ill treatment against a child which is punished with jail time, from 3 to 7 years in prison. The court could also rule the termination of parental rights.
The family physicians who don’t report these cases also risk sanctions.