A message about medical exemptions to the COVID-19 vaccine from Jessica LeBlanc, MD, MPH and Chief Health Officer at Mosaic
It is very rare that a patient qualifies for COVID-19 vaccine medical exemption, in fact patients with chronic diseases are highly encouraged to receive the vaccine.
If you have had a documented allergic reaction to the COVID-19 vaccine or the components in the vaccine, then this would warrant a medical exemption from the vaccine.
However, only two to five people out of a million appear to have a severe allergic reaction to the COVID-19 vaccine. This equates to anticipating that only one person in ALL of Central Oregon (population 250,000+) would qualify for medical exemption.
If you are concerned about having a reaction to the vaccine because you have other allergies, or you have had a sensitivity to a different vaccine in the past, then we can give you recommendations on pre-medication to take before receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.
People who have cancer or a decreased immune response due to disease or medications should still get the COVID-19 vaccine. They are not allergic to the vaccine.
The risk of getting a side effect from the vaccine is far lower than the risk of getting severely ill from COVID-19 when you are unvaccinated.
At Mosaic, a request for a medical exemption to the COVID-19 vaccine involves a thorough review of your health history as well as a document history of a diagnosis to support an exemption. Patients need to have an appointment in order to review this information with their provider. An appointment to address this does not guarantee a letter will be written for exemption.
Please do not make an appointment to request a medical exemption to the COVID-19 vaccine unless you have had a documented allergic reaction to the vaccine or components in the past.
Mosaic, as well as other health care providers in the community, will continue to follow the CDC guidelines and FDA guidelines on medical exemption criteria as outlined above.
The CDC has information on each vaccine and which patients are exempt:
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/different-vaccines/Pfizer-BioNTech.html
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/different-vaccines/Moderna.html
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/different-vaccines/janssen.html
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