NHC Vaccine Policy (non-COVID)

Dear havurahniks,

Several members of our community brought forth a concern about measles and other infectious diseases at Institute, and asked the Board to create an immunization/vaccination policy.

We did our best to formulate an approach that draws on the professional expertise and recommendations of those community members. If you’d like to be involved in this work in the future, please email volunteer@havurah.org.

The health and safety of everybody in our community is important to us. Herd immunity is a vital part of taking care of each other in community and supports our values of intergenerationality and accessibility by protecting community members who cannot be immunized.

For all NHC events moving forward, our expectation is that every attending adult and child will be up-to-date on medically recommended immunizations/vaccinations according to the CDC guidelines.

(for children: https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/schedules/hcp/imz/child-adolescent.html; for adults: https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/schedules/hcp/imz/adult.html). More information specific to the MMR vaccine that includes measles is available here: https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd/mmr/public/index.html).

  • If you would like help understanding the recommendations or meeting them, or have questions about medical exemptions, some NHC community members with medical backgrounds have volunteered to speak with you. Please email office@havurah.org.
    • The current CDC guideline is that adults born before 1957 are presumptively immune and that most adults born after 1957 who have had at least one measles vaccine dose do not need a second dose or to check their vaccination titers except in specific circumstances. A very small subset of people immunized between 1963 and 1968 received a less effective vaccine. The CDC recommends that people who are unsure whether they fall into that group should speak with their doctor about checking titers or revaccinating. For more information: http://cdc.gov/measles/about/faqs.html
  • We will be requiring all registrants to affirm that they are immunized according to the CDC recommendations or will be by the time of Institute. For minor children, parents/guardians will be required to make this affirmation about the child’s immunization status.
    • This will be part of registration as soon as possible, with a supplementary affirmation system for those who have already registered before it was implemented into the registration process.  
  • That said, the NHC will not be collecting or verifying any personal medical information for either minors or adults. We cannot make any claims or guarantees about effective levels of herd immunity at Institute. While our hope is to make it as safe as possible for as many people as possible, we understand that each individual must do their own risk calculation.

(Released May 2019, updated December 2021)