Czech Parents Claim Right to Avoid Vaccination, Government Disagrees

December 31, 2025 Tm, A smallpox vaccination kit.

By Roberto Drilea

May 18, 2026

PRAGUE – “Vaccination is here to protect the society, but I am a mother and I have to protect my child before I start thinking of the common good,” says Kamila Tkadlecova, 26, mother of an 18-month old boy whom she decided to postpone vaccination for – in order to minimize the risk of side effects.

He eventually got the hexavaccine – a four-dose comprehensive immunization that, according to Czech law, is first given at three months – but several months after the regular schedule.

“I believe that vaccination is generally safe, but what if my child is one of the few who has [an] allergic reaction as a side effect?” Ms. Tkadlecova also decided to postpone the MMR vaccine, though she has signed a paper stating she will eventually vaccinate her child. Her feelings are echoed by an increasing number of Czech parents who, concerned by rumors of side effects ranging from high fever to autism, decide to delay vaccination, or completely avoid it.

Czech law requires children to be vaccinated before entering a nursery or preschool system, and parents can be fined up to 10,000 koruna if they refuse to comply. Few end up with serious side effects every year, but the costs and risks of avoiding vaccination are much higher to society, according to the authorities. Parents continue to defend their right to choose, and the issue could escalate to the European Court of Human Rights.

After completing her studies in South Africa, Ms. Tkadlecova decided to return to the Czech Republic and is raising her only child in a small town outside of Kolín, a city 35 miles east of Prague. She says most parents decide to vaccinate their children, because it is a “small town where people just go with the crowd. I don’t, and that is why I keep to myself.” She is displeased with the state of the Czech health care system, calling it “one of the main reasons I want to leave this country.”

“The parents’ autonomy in decision-making on the child’s health condition is not absolute,” said Ludvík Daněk, a judge of the Czech Constitutional Court, which recently upheld a ruling that the Ministry of Health can fine parents who decline vaccination of their children. In an interview with the Czech News Agency (CTK) Mr. Daněk added that vaccination is a matter of public health, diminishing the spread of infectious disease, and that this stands above the individual’s fundamental rights.

“I’m a major supporter of vaccines, but I’m also a major supporter of freedom of choice,” says allenstenhaus, a user on the online forum platform Reddit, in response to an article announcing the Constitutional Court’s decision last month. “As much as I would like everyone to be vaccinated, I feel it’s wrong to force people to put things into their bodies if they are against it.” Another user, PandaRach, is similarly conflicted, expressing his discomfort at the idea of forced vaccination, yet concluding that “it needs to be mandatory, for the good of everyone.”

“Children can only attend a nursery or preschool if they have received the required regular vaccinations,” reads a note on the Czech Ministry of Health’s website. The ministry only mandates immunization for children, and it provides an exception for parents who can prove a “permanent contraindication – a prohibition against vaccination for health reasons.”

The Disneyland measles outbreak that started in December and affected over 140 people in the United States – mostly in California – brought attention to the issue of the anti-vaccination movement. Though the outbreak was recently declared over by the California Department of Public Health, vaccination remains a hot topic. Last year, the US had the most cases of measles since it had been declared eliminated in 2000 – just over 2 per million. But comparatively, many European countries have many more thousands of cases a year, looking up to the US for their low disease rates; Italy has a rate of 32 per million, whereas the Czech Republic has 21 per million.

“Prevention has strong support in our legislation,” said Dr. Milan Cabrnoch, a pediatrician and former Member of the European Parliament, in an interview with Vaccines Today, an online platform for discussing vaccination. According to data from the World Bank, the Czech Republic’s measles immunization rate has been 99% in the last five years. By comparison, only 91% of children are vaccinated in the US. In order for an outbreak to be prevented, at least 95% of the people in a community have to be fully vaccinated – a concept known as “herd immunity.”

“Herd immunity protects those who cannot be vaccinated,” says Dr. Roman Chlibek, the scientific secretary of the Czech Vaccination Society, in an article published on Parlamentni Listy, a platform where politicians publish their views without editorial interference. “It is historically known that if there is a decline in vaccinations, many diseases will come back.”

“I value true democracy and freedom, I believe nobody should force something in your or your child’s body. You shouldn’t be fined,” says Ms. Tkadlecova. Such fines are not the only financial implications of avoiding vaccination; homeschooling or private kindergartens are expensive options for parents who decide completely against vaccination. “But I think it’s okay if my child can’t attend a state institution. If you don’t do things for the state, it is okay if the state doesn’t do things for you.”