SECTION 100.5. Receipt and Release of Immunization Registry Data

(a) The immunization registry must contain information on the immunization history obtained by the department under this chapter regarding:

(1) each individual for whom consent has been obtained;

(2) individuals immunized to prepare for or in response to an event under §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); and

(3) first responders or their immediate family members for whom a request has been submitted, as described at §100.8 of this title (relating to First Responder Immunization Information).

(b) The department may obtain the data constituting an immunization record for an individual from a public health district, a local health department, the individual or the individual's legally authorized representative, a physician, a payor, or from any health care provider licensed (or otherwise legally authorized) to administer vaccines. Submission of this information must be according to the procedures and in the format prescribed by the department.

(c) Except as provided by §100.7 and §100.8 of this title, the department shall verify consent before including information received under subsection (b) of this section in the immunization registry. The department may not retain identifiable information about an individual for whom consent cannot be verified.

(d) When the department verifies consent under subsection (c) of this section, it may do so by any of the following, at its discretion:

(1) manual or electronic review of the consent form document signed (including by electronic signature) by a legally authorized representative at birth certificate registration;

(2) manual or electronic review of a consent form signed by a legally authorized representative and submitted to the department by mail 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 (consent forms may also be received by facsimile);

(3) affirmation by a health care provider, birth registrar, regional health information exchange, or local immunization registry that consent has been obtained, as described in Texas Health and Safety Code, §161.007(a)(5), and in a manner prescribed by the department.

(e) Except as limited by subsections (f) and (g) of this section, the department may release the data constituting an immunization record:

(1) to the individual or the individual's legally authorized representative; and

(2) to the following entities, with those entities subject to the stated limitations:

(A) a Texas public health district or a Texas local health department, for public health purposes within their areas of jurisdiction;

(B) a physician or any health care provider licensed (or otherwise legally authorized) to administer vaccines in Texas, for treating the individual as a patient;

(C) a Texas school or Texas child care facility, for an individual enrolled in that school or child care facility;

(D) a payor currently authorized by the Texas Department of Insurance to operate in Texas, for immunization records related to the specific person in Texas covered under the payor's policy; (E) a state agency having legal custody of an individual; and

(F) an employer of a first responder, with the prior written or electronic consent of the first responder, for verification of the first responder's immunization history.

(3) Direct electronic access to the immunization registry information shall be limited to entities described in paragraph (2) of this subsection, for use under the stated limitations and subject to registration and access requirements as provided by the department.

(f) For individuals immunized to prepare for, or in response to, an event covered by §100.7 of this title, the department may release information from the immunization registry as provided in §100.7(f) of this title.

(g) For first responders or their immediate family members 18 years of age or older, the department may release information from the immunization registry as provided in §100.8(e) of this title.

(h) Texas Health and Safety Code, §161.0105, provides limited liability protections, as described in those provisions.

(i) The department may release nonidentifying summary statistics related to the immunization registry that do not individually identify an individual.

Source Note: The provisions of this §100.5 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