Idaho Republicans: Health officials shouldn’t collect immunization records on adults
Updated 2:28 p.m. on April 9 to include statements from the Department of Health and Welfare and attorney general’s office.
Idaho Republicans want the state to no longer collect adults’ vaccine records and to destroy any information they have collected, potentially putting in jeopardy state officials’ efforts to track progress on administering COVID-19 vaccines.
GOP legislative leaders on Friday accused the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare of violating Idaho law by collecting adult records on immunization status. They called on state officials to immediately stop collecting information and destroy any registration information held by the department.
“This practice goes beyond simple regulatory overreach. This has the potential to be an abuse of the people’s trust,” House Speaker Scott Bedke, R-Oakley, said in a news release. “We believe Department of Health and Welfare has no statutory authority to collect immunization data on Idaho adults.”
In a letter, Bedke urged Attorney General Lawrence Wasden to direct the department to stop its collection efforts. All eight GOP leaders on the House and Senate signed the letter. Bedke and Majority Caucus Chair Megan Blanksma, R-Hammett, did not respond to a question about whether they want the department to stop collecting records on COVID-19 vaccines.
Department of Health and Welfare Director Dave Jeppesen said state officials have followed the law.
“I am confident the Department of Health and Welfare has complied with state and federal law for many years and currently is in compliance with regard to collecting adult and children’s immunization data,” Jeppesen said in a released statement Friday. “In fact, we have worked closely for many years with the office of the Idaho attorney general on this issue, and we look forward to their opinion on the matter.”
Republicans allege that Idaho’s code allows immunization records to be collected only about “children against childhood diseases.”
Several legislators requested their personal records reported to Idaho’s Immunization Reminder Information System, the state’s vaccine health record, and found “multiple reports listing adult vaccination records” for different vaccines over the years, according to the House Republicans’ press release.
Gov. Brad Little on Wednesday signed an executive order banning the use of COVID-19 “vaccine passports” by the state. The order explicitly did not bar “the normal operation of Idaho’s existing Immunization Reminder Information System.”
Providers are required to report administered vaccines to IRIS within 72 hours, according to the health department. State health officials use IRIS to remove names off Idaho’s COVID-19 pre-registration system to reduce duplicate attempts to schedule people for vaccines.
Jeppesen encouraged Idaho residents to continue to be included in IRIS to help health care providers stay informed about their patients, but pointed out that anyone can opt out of IRIS.
Dr. David Pate, former CEO of St. Luke’s, said health officials can benefit from detailed collected information on immunization to recognize gaps in the public health system and help them target their efforts — for example, in a certain geographic area or demographic.
“What we’ve seen recurrently from the Legislature is absolutely no commitment to public health, period,” Pate told the Statesman on Friday. “Add this to the list of the things that the Legislature right now is doing that is just putting more Idahoans at risk now and in the future.”
Scott Graf, spokesperson for the attorney general, in a statement said Wasden received the letter from legislative leadership.
“The office takes seriously the concerns raised and is analyzing the issue,” Graf said.
