When our daughter was in elementary school, there was a case of chickenpox at her school. The school nurse called and said that because our daughter was not vaccinated, she could not return to school for a specified time, which was the standard practice. I said OK.

Initially she said it was going to be two weeks, but she called a few days later and said it was only one week, per health officials. When I asked her if the child who brought the chickenpox into the school was vaccinated, she paused, and said yes.

This is not an isolated incident in my experience. Children who are vaccinated still have a small chance of getting childhood diseases and can potentially spread them.

I’m not opposed to vaccination, but I am opposed to being forced to do it when there is no apparent present or imminent problem. For the state to force everyone to vaccinate does infringe on First Amendment rights to free exercise of religion.

In the event of an unlikely outbreak, to require children to be vaccinated or quarantined is enough.

Seth Johnson

Falmouth