(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.
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