SECTION 100.4. Immunization Registry Consent and Withdrawal Relating to a Child

(a) A child's legally authorized representative may consent to the inclusion of the child's immunization history in the immunization registry by doing one of the following:

(1) indicating consent at birth certificate registration, including by electronic signature;

(2) submitting written notification to the department in a format prescribed by the department or substantially similar and mailed to the Department of State Health Services, Immunization Unit, MC-1946, P.O. Box 149347, Austin, Texas 78714-9347, or by courier to Department of State Health Services, Immunization Unit, 1100 West 49th Street, MC-1946, Austin, Texas 78756, or by calling the Immunization Unit at [phone] to request a consent form;

(3) completing written or electronic consent to be submitted to a health care provider, birth registrar, regional health information exchange, or local immunization registry, who may review that consent and affirm that consent has been obtained via an affirmation process as directed by the department.

(b) Unless otherwise provided by §100.7 of this title (relating to Potential and Declared Disasters, Public Health Emergency, Terrorist Attack, Hostile Military or Paramilitary Action, and Extraordinary Law Enforcement Emergency Event), the department shall verify consent before including the reported information regarding the child in the immunization registry. Under Texas Health and Safety Code, §161.007(a)(5), the department may elect to verify consent by receiving affirmation from a health care provider, birth registrar, regional health information exchange, or local immunization registry that consent has been obtained. The department shall provide notice to a provider that submits data elements for an individual for whom consent cannot be verified. The notice shall contain instructions for obtaining and affirming consent and resubmitting the data elements to the department.

(c) Consent is required to be obtained only one time, and is valid until the child becomes 18 years of age, unless the consent is withdrawn in writing.

(d) A legally authorized representative of a child may withdraw consent for the child to be included in the immunization registry at any time by submitting written notification to the department in a format prescribed by the department or substantially similar and mailed to the Department of State Health Services, Immunization Unit, MC-1946, P.O. Box 149347, Austin, Texas 78714-9347, or by courier to Department of State Health Services, Immunization Unit, 1100 West 49th Street, MC-1946, Austin, Texas 78756, or by calling the Immunization Unit at [phone] to request a consent withdrawal form. Unless otherwise provided by §100.7 of this title, the department shall remove information from the immunization registry for any individual for whom consent has been withdrawn, and the department shall send the legally authorized representative a written confirmation of the removal of the information. The department may not retain identifiable information about any individual for whom consent has been withdrawn except as provided for by §100.7 of this title.

(e) A legally authorized representative may request exclusion of a child's immunization history from the immunization registry by doing one of the following:

(1) indicating the request for exclusion at birth certificate registration, including by electronic signature; or

(2) submitting written notification to the department in a format prescribed by the department or substantially similar and mailed to the Department of State Health Services, Immunization Unit, MC-1946, P.O. Box 149347, Austin, Texas 78714-9347, or by courier to Department of State Health Services, Immunization Unit, 1100 West 49th Street, MC-1946, Austin, Texas 78756, or by calling the Immunization Unit at [phone] to request an exclusion form. Unless otherwise provided by §100.7 of this title, on receipt of a written request to exclude a child's immunization records from the immunization registry, the department shall send the legally authorized representative a written confirmation of receipt of the request, and shall exclude the child's records from the immunization registry. The department may not retain individually identifiable information about any individual for whom an exclusion has been requested, unless otherwise allowed under §100.7 of this title.

Source Note: The provisions of this §100.4 adopted to be effective May 6, 2004, 29 TexReg 4155; amended to be effective August 17, 2008, 33 TexReg 6384; amended to be effective January 1, 2020, 44 TexReg 7984