Dear Ramah Day Camp Community,     

As we prepare for Kayitz 2023, we want to share an updated COVID vaccine policy this summer. Our goal is to provide ample time for our staff, campers, and their families to become familiar with our health and safety protocols, and to assure you that we will remain transparent if any adjustments to these protocols are required. The lessons we have learned over the last three years have made us a stronger community and enhanced how we approach medical care for our campers and staff. As such, we wanted to outline several key policies regarding COVID vaccines and boosters.   

COVID Vaccines and Boosters Policy:   

The COVID vaccine and bivalent booster are among the routine immunization recommendations of the ACIP (Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices) and the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and are included in the 2023 routine childhood vaccine recommendations. The National Ramah Commission (NRC) Medical Committee has thus unanimously endorsed the following recommendation: “The primary COVID vaccine series is required for all eligible campers at all the Ramah day camps. The COVID bivalent booster is strongly recommended for all eligible campers. [FOR ALL RDC STAFF MEMBERS], the primary series is required and the bivalent booster is strongly recommended.”   There are important driving principles that guided the NRC towards making this statement that can be found in the NRC COVID-19 Vaccination Statement.

Requests for Medical Exemptions to this Policy: 

It is the expectation that all campers and staff are to be vaccinated in accordance with this policy. Requests for medical exemptions will be determined by the medical committee on a case-by-case basis. Exemptions based upon personal, philosophical, or religious objections are not permissible.  For a medical exemption, requests must be made by submitting THIS FORM no later than April 1, 2023. Exemption requests after this date will not be considered. As part of this form submission, requests for medical exemptions require a letter written by a medical provider who has a medical relationship with the camper/staff member (and is not the parent of the child/staff member). The letter must state the medical reasoning behind the request. Ramah Day Camp reserves the right to request additional documentation supporting the need or request for any medical exemption from the person or their medical provider. Should a family decide to no longer attend camp as a result of not receiving an exemption, a full refund will be provided.  

We are all partners in keeping camp safe, fun, and smooth this Kayitz. We appreciate your continued support to make this summer a success for our entire community and look forward to seeing all our campers on June 26th and throughout the course of a safe, happy, educational, and joyous summer. While we do not yet know exactly what the situation with COVID will be in June, we believe strongly that a fully vaccinated camp community greatly increases our chances of running as normal of a summer as possible.  

If you have any questions, please contact RDCNurse@ramahpoconos.org  

Todah Rabbah,    

Miryam Seid  
Executive Director  

Sofy Maxman
Associate Director

Sherri Cohen MD, MPH, FAAP
Medical Director