Vaccination as a condition for admission to education: who and how the state will not allow into schools and kindergartens

In Ukraine, new rules may be introduced, according to which children without the preventive vaccinations provided for in the calendar will not be able to attend schools and kindergartens. In addition, persons suffering from infectious diseases may be required by law to comply with all medical prescriptions. Such norms are provided by the new draft law, which can significantly change the rules of the game not only in the field of health care, but also in education. In a country that has not yet recovered from the shock of the pandemic, where trust in medical solutions is still on thin ice, the state is suddenly making unexpected changes. And although the officials assure that it is about safety, prevention and approximation to European norms, the question immediately arises whether the state is able to ensure the availability of education to all those whom it itself turns away from school doors.

Vaccination as a pass to school: what the new law on infectious diseases is changing

We are talking about a draft law No. 13367 “On the protection of the population from infectious diseases”. Its purpose is not simply to modernize the current legislation, but to bring it into line with European norms, to strengthen prevention mechanisms, and what is especially important, to integrate the immunization system into the everyday practice of school and preschool life. In fact, the state is trying to create a legislative framework that will radically change access to full-time education. And these changes will affect not only children, but also parents, teachers and staff of educational institutions.

The new draft law states that a child without vaccinations has no right to attend school or kindergarten, unless there is an official medical exemption. Similarly, a teacher or an employee of an educational institution who does not have mandatory vaccinations will not be able to work with children in an offline format.

The educational process, according to the new rules, will include:

• mandatory check of medical certificates upon enrollment;
• fixation of vaccination status in internal documents;
• transfer of unvaccinated children to distance, correspondence or individual education;
• restricting the access of unvaccinated workers to an educational institution.

As you can see, this law leaves no room for maneuver. Officials are trying to show that vaccination should not be taken as a recommendation. Now this is an important condition that does not leave any compromises, unless, of course, there are no medical contraindications.

For families who fundamentally refuse vaccinations without medical reasons, the state leaves only alternative forms of education, that is, their children will study in this case only by correspondence or individually. But it is worth understanding: distance education is not equal to a full-fledged educational environment. The lack of socialization, difficult access to resources, and a decrease in motivation will be mandatory side effects of such training, which do not compensate for “freedom of choice” at all.

The new law also introduces a legal mechanism for recording refusal. If the parents do not agree to the immunization of the child, the medical professional must document this in the form of a written refusal or act. Such a document will not be a mere formality, but can be used as a basis for further administrative decisions regarding the child’s participation in the educational process.

Thus, vaccination moves from the medical plane to the legal plane and carries a new level of responsibility. It is obvious that schools and kindergartens will have to fundamentally revise the organization of their work. The administration will have the authority not only to check documents, but also to refuse admission to study. Unvaccinated workers may be removed from work, and unvaccinated children will be urgently transferred to distance learning. This means additional costs: for new digital platforms, staff training, organization of a mixed education format, changing schedules and even staffing. Under such circumstances, there is no guarantee that parents or teachers will not resist.

Between duty and right: how vaccination became a ticket to the civilized world

In the explanatory note to the draft law, the Ministry of Health cites examples from other countries, which have not been debating whether vaccination should be done for a long time. And although different countries have built their own architectures of obligation, the essence is the same everywhere: public safety has become higher than private opinion. And if you want to enjoy basic benefits, namely education, medicine, public space, then you have to obey the general game.

Take, for example, Australia. There, the state turned out to be much more resourceful than any humanitarian committee. The mechanism that works there sounds like the title of the movie: No Jab, No Pay (Eng. “No injection, no money” – ed.). If you haven’t been vaccinated, don’t wait for social benefits. Vaccination here is not just a medical obligation, but also a financial tool. If you want to receive child benefit, support in the form of tax credits or subsidies, please show the certificate. But if you don’t have vaccinations – goodbye, check. And this is not the only motivation. There is also a similar policy No Jab, No Play (English. “There is no injection, there is no game” – ed.), according to which unvaccinated children are simply not allowed in kindergartens and schools. Everything is honest, without personal interpretations: if you are not vaccinated, you stay at home.

Even Italy, a country that historically gravitates towards freedom of choice, has been in the “more responsibility – less tolerance” mode for several years now. Here, a child without mandatory vaccinations simply does not have the right to be enrolled in kindergarten. Even if the parents are sure that they are right, the system is indifferent to personal beliefs: if there is a certificate, then you are welcome, if there is not – a fine of 100 to 500 euros and goodbye. All of this was enacted before the COVID-19 pandemic, under the influence of increasing measles outbreaks that suddenly became too frequent even for modern medicine.

Germany, known for its bureaucratic pedantry, followed the path of fines. Since 2020, vaccination against measles is mandatory here for everyone who wants to go to school, kindergarten or work in the field of education. The principle is simple and concise, like the German sentence, if you haven’t vaccinated your child, get ready to pay up to 2,500 euros. At the same time, the system leaves no chance for citizens to “refuse unnoticed”, because everything is recorded officially, with the submission of documents and strict reporting.

In the north-west, in Slovenia, the situation is even tougher. Refusals from vaccination on religious or philosophical grounds are simply not recognized there. If the doctor did not confirm medical contraindications, then no other arguments are valid. A child must be vaccinated against nine major infections, including tuberculosis, polio, diphtheria, whooping cough and measles. Here, even an appeal to personal freedom is perceived as a threat to public health.

The United States, although often imagined as a bastion of individual freedoms, also leaves no room for abuse. In most states, a child is not eligible to attend school without a basic set of immunizations. Yes, some states allow religious or philosophical waivers, but the number of such states is shrinking every year. And even in those where these exceptions are formally in place, schools have the authority to remove an unvaccinated child during an outbreak.

In France, vaccination has become a matter of professional ethics. Healthcare workers who refuse mandatory vaccinations, including for COVID-19, risk being suspended from work. In this case, the salary is not saved, and “medical freedom” turns into banal unemployment. The French state is not shy about this issue: the vulnerability of patients should be higher than the personal opinion of the doctor.

Some countries go even further. In Greece, for example, mandatory vaccination has been introduced for people over 60 years of age. This category is the most vulnerable to the severe consequences of diseases, so refusal of vaccination entails a monthly fine of 100 euros. Here, the question is not even to give a signal to the elderly, but to introduce a kind of test of the state’s readiness to protect its citizens even from themselves.

At the same time, in Canada, although vaccination is mandatory for schoolchildren, the state leaves a window for medical, religious or philosophical exceptions. However, in order to use this right, you need to go through a special procedure: submit an official statement, often even under oath, and in some cases you will also have to listen to a mandatory information session. Here, freedom is not perceived as a privilege, but a reasoned choice that requires effort.

As you can see, each of these countries is trying to find an optimal solution to maintain a balance between individual rights and public safety. But a common logic can be traced everywhere: vaccination should become not just a fear of possible diseases, but a civilizational agreement.

A European scenario in the Ukrainian style: who will be left without school

If you listen to the representatives of the Ministry of Health, the new draft law looks almost like a breath of fresh air, clear, logical and aimed at the good of society. Officials are simply confident that they will finally create not only an educational but also a safe environment in schools and kindergartens. As if at the push of a button, everything will immediately become perfectly sterile: no coughing in the classroom, no quarantine due to measles or flu. A kind of dream of an educational and medical crossroads with protected children, calm parents and healthy teachers appears before the eyes.

We also do not forget about integration into Europe, because in the explanatory note to the draft law, officials willingly appeal to the world practices of Italy, Germany and Australia as a standard of what we should strive for. It sounds beautiful: here we are, next to those who have long since turned vaccination from a debate into a norm. This law, they say, is not just about vaccination, but about an entrance ticket to the club of “civilized countries”, where health is not a choice, but an obligation.

However, despite loud promises of “alternative forms” and “European standards”, the essence of the new draft law on protection against infectious diseases contradicts the basic provisions of the Constitution of Ukraine. After all, Article 53 clearly guarantees every citizen the right to education and obliges the state to ensure its availability and free of charge, especially at the level of general secondary education. In reality, however, unvaccinated children without contraindications, but with the convictions of their parents, will simply not be allowed into the school environment. Formally, they are not excluded, but in fact, they will be left behind the doors of the educational system, shifting the responsibility to the family, which has to somehow organize distance or individual education on their own. This is not about care and safety, but about a sophisticated form of forced removal. Constitutional law becomes conditional: as if it exists, but only for the obedient.

And the main thing is that, according to the legislators, all these measures are taken for the sake of justice. The law should apply equally to everyone: whether you are a first-grader, a farmer, or a director of a lyceum. If you have not been vaccinated, then you simply do not participate in the full-time educational process. Everyone is in the same situation, at least on paper.

But Ukraine is not Germany, and not even Slovenia. We have neither an electronic vaccination register nor a real-time immunization monitoring system. Often, even vaccination information is stored on paper medical cards, which are easy to “adjust”. In such circumstances, the law creates not an effective system of protection, but chaos in which school administrators will be transformed into controllers of immune status, with neither authority nor resource.

Formally, the law does not prohibit the education of unvaccinated children. But “alternatives” in the form of distance learning or individual training are nothing more than an illusion of choice. Educators will confirm that in rural schools or overcrowded city lyceums, even organizing Zoom lessons is a real challenge. At the same time, the state does not offer additional funding for this reconstruction.  And this means that in practice these children will remain outside the system, and here we are not talking about protection, but about the actual deprivation of access to education.

According to the bill, all education workers, including nurses, janitors and cleaners, must now be vaccinated. But for some reason, the option of compensation for these people in case of possible suspension from work is not considered. And the draft law itself does not explain whether anyone actually conducted a real assessment of the level of vaccination among the staff. Presumably, teachers who already work multiple jobs will now be faced with a choice: vaccination or losing their jobs.

At first glance, the right of doctors to record refusal of vaccinations provided by this draft law looks like increased responsibility. But in the conditions of mistrust of doctors, low level of digitalization and corrupt practices, this can turn into a banal: “pay and you will receive an act of contraindications”. The risk of falsification instead of control is quite real.

In a country where half of the population is prejudiced against vaccinations or has doubts about the medical system, introducing restrictions is like adding fuel to a fire. The Ministry of Health does not accompany the law with a communication campaign, there are no explanations, there is no dialogue. As a result, we will inevitably have conflicts in schools, parental dissatisfaction and ideological confrontation. Especially against the background of political polarization and mistrust of information.

Instead of the promised “European practice”, such a situation will create the risk of destabilizing the educational system, increasing social tension and eroding trust in medical solutions. The draft law is presented as a well-thought-out decision, but the implementation looks more like a rough implementation of good ideas without taking into account Ukrainian realities.