As youth vaccination rates decline, Sonoma County education officials urge parents to get kids inoculated

Students may have fallen behind on immunizations required by state law to attend school, and the social turbulence caused by the pandemic may be partly to blame.|

MARTIN ESPINOZA

THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

August 8, 2022

What Shots are Required for Kids

Parents or guardians of students in public or private schools or child care facilities are no longer allowed to submit personal belief exemptions to any currently required vaccines. Students are excluded from enrolling until they have started the vaccination series.

State law requires the following vaccinations for students entering transitional kindergarten or kindergarten, or entering public or private schools for the first time.

These requirements also typically apply to new admissions, including students from outside of the state, as well as 7th grade students who previously had a valid personal beliefs exemption filed before 2016.

Upon admission, students at TK and K-12 schools must have:

* Diphtheria, Tetanus, and Pertussis; 5 doses (4 doses OK if one was given on or after the 4th birthday; 3 doses OK if one was given on or after 7th birthday. For 7th-12th graders, at least one dose of pertussis-containing vaccine is required on or after the 7th birthday.)

* Polio (OPV or IPV) — 4 doses (3 doses OK if one is on or after 4th birthday)

* Hepatitis B — 3 doses (not required for 7th grade entry)

* Measles, Mumps, and rubella (MMR) — 2 doses, both given on or after 1st birthday

* Varicella (Chickenpox) — 2 doses

In addition to the above vaccinations, students beginning 7th grade are required to be up to date on their Tdap and chickenpox booster shots.

Source: Sonoma County Office of Education

Amid a global decline in student vaccination rates, Sonoma County education officials are urging parents to get their kids inoculated before school starts later this week for some districts.

County school officials said Monday they suspect some students may have fallen behind on the immunizations state law requires for them to attend school. Officials said the social turbulence caused by the pandemic may be partly to blame.

“It is important that we ensure students return to the safest learning environment possible,” Sonoma County Superintendent of Schools Steven D. Herrington said in a statement.

“We know that the pandemic has disrupted many families’ regular pediatric medical and vaccination routines, but it’s important to make sure we maintain herd immunity from many childhood illnesses, some of which can be quite serious,” Herrington said.

Public Health officials said Monday they are currently evaluating youth vaccination rates for the past two years to determine whether the pandemic had any impact. The results of that analysis are due early next week, according to a spokesman for the public health agency.

School officials pointed to a report in July by the World Health Organization and UNICEF that found 25 million infants around the world missed out on vaccinations in 2021. Officials said these vaccines protect the local community against illnesses such as measles, polio and hepatitis B.

The WHO and UNICEF report found that the decline in child vaccination rates was the biggest sustained decline in routine childhood vaccinations in 30 years. The report said the decline was likely caused by pandemic disruptions, conflict, displacement and increasing vaccine misinformation.

Globally, 25 million children failed to get one or more doses of DTP through routine immunizations in 2021. That’s 2 million more than those who missed out in 2020 and 6 million more than in 2019.

The backslide highlights the growing number of kids who are at risk from devastating but preventable diseases, UNICEF and WHO report said.

Sonoma County officials said that although vaccines against COVID-19 are not required to attend school, local officials said they are strongly recommended.

Herrington, in a phone call Monday, said Sonoma County has historically had among the lowest childhood vaccination rates in the state, with vaccine reluctance or hesitancy in the West County driving that statistic.

He said the county education office and the public health department have received federal grant money to help schools with declining vaccine rates get “back on track.” Many families during the pandemic did not keep up with routine doctor’s appointments at which their kids would have been vaccinated.

“We’re playing catch-up here,” he said.

You can reach Staff Writer Martin Espinoza at 707-521-5213 or martin.espinoza@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @pressreno.