Immunization Rates

A change in the law requires schools and child care programs to share their immunization rates with parents. Senate Bill 895 was passed in 2015.

We aim for at least 95% of children to be immunized for community protection, though the percentage varies by disease. When 95% of children are vaccinated in a school or child care, this reduces the chance of spreading the disease among vulnerable individuals.

Vaccines are not 100% effective for every child. The chance of your child being exposed to a vaccine-preventable disease increases if some of their classmates have not been vaccinated. The best defense is not to be exposed to the disease in the first place. The second best defense is to be vaccinated.

Vulnerable populations, including young children, those medically not able to be vaccinated, seniors, and medically fragile individuals, are most at risk of vaccine preventable diseases. But even healthy individuals can contract these diseases, especially if they have not been vaccinated.

A nonmedical exemption allows a parent to decline some or all vaccines for their child. The child is considered susceptible for any exempted vaccine. If there is an outbreak at the school or in the community, children with exemptions may not be allowed to attend school or child care until the risk of infection is past.

A medical exemption is issued when a child cannot get a vaccine for a medical reason. Some examples include a child who is allergic the vaccine, or a child who is undergoing chemotherapy. These children are medically unable to receive some vaccines, so they rely on others being vaccinated to protect them. If more people are vaccinated, a disease has a lower chance of spreading, thereby protecting those with medical exemptions.

Children may be enrolled at two different sites. The main site would report on the child. The secondary site would include the child in the number not to be counted. An example is a child attending school and then going to child care after school. The school includes the child in their report, but the child care does not count them.

Young children are still in process of receiving vaccines every few months. They are up-to-date but not fully protected with the required number of doses against all of the vaccine-preventable diseases. Therefore, children 18 months or younger are not included in calculating the immunization rates.

The rate for Hepatitis A vaccine may be different than from other vaccines because this vaccine is required for different grades. In school year 2015-2016, students in K — 7th grade are required to receive this vaccine. One additional grade will be required to have Hepatitis A vaccine each school year.

Children younger than kindergarten have different immunization requirements than students in grades 1<-12 because of their age.

Programs with fewer than 10 children on their immunization report are not required to share their rates. Sharing immunization rates for programs with small numbers of children risks the loss of confidentiality. Registered child care programs are also exempt from the requirement to share immunization rates.