Compulsory child vaccinations

Independence Party (‘Sjálfstæðisflokkurinn’) councillors in the City of Reykjavik intend to submit a proposal at today’s City Council meeting calling upon the capital’s nursery schools to refuse admission to unvaccinated children.

Hildur Sverrisdóttir, Deputy Councillor for the Independence Party, describes this proposal as a response to the new dangers facing the Western world with the re-emergence in recent months of old contagious diseases such as measles.

Already implemented in America

“The idea is for the City of Reykjavik, Iceland’s largest service provider – not least to children, to lead the way in showing that we as a society stand firm in ensuring that these diseases do not appear in Iceland,” states Sverrisdóttir in an interview with mbl.is.

The proposal will be based on the minimum recommended vaccinations for each age group issued by the Icelandic Directorate of Health. Sverrisdóttir points out that the United States has already set a precedent for making vaccinations mandatory for nursery-school admission.

Measles potentially fatal

“Debate has been sparked in neighbouring European countries by the emergence of this new danger.

Hildur Sverrisdóttir, Deputy Councillor for the Independence Party in the City of Reykjavik.

Sverrisdóttir is unsure of the reception that awaits the Independence Party’s proposal in today’s City Council meeting. “While I understand that people might feel that this is too much of a burdensome imposition, I do not agree with that view. I am attempting to find solutions and ways forward for the future, while ensuring things are not taken to extremes. We are still in the enviable position of this not yet being an urgent issue. We are fortunately not yet faced with a crisis situation,” she clarifies.

Current nursery-school children not affected

Given that this issue is not yet urgent in Iceland, the proposal calls for the new requirements to apply only to new registrations in nursery schools. 

“Children already attending nursery school will not be removed from their social environment and their friends. Things are fortunately not that serious yet. These measures are a way of moving forward in order to avoid being faced with a crisis situation and having to take even more stringent measures in the future.”