Six Schools Miss Vaccination Target

An unsafe number of kindergarteners at six local elementary schools have been going to class without immunizations for measles.

Those low vaccination rates are revealed in a batch of school-by-school data released by Connecticut’s Department of Public Health this week.

Medical experts say that 95 percent of students within a school building should be vaccinated to create ​“herd immunity,” which can limit outbreaks of contagious diseases even for those with compromised immune systems who can’t be safely vaccinated.

But within six buildings— three public schools and three charter schools — not enough students got their shot for measles, mumps and rubella (MMR).

Decades ago, nearly every child came down with measles, which generally causes a fever, a runny nose and a spotted rash.

The symptoms could also be far more severe. Each year, hundreds died and tens of thousands were hospitalized, including for swelling of the brain, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Through vaccinations, the federal government said in 2000 that measles had been eliminated.

But an increasing number of opt-outs — especially for religious reasons — has put that at risk, as measles cases return. This year, there have been three diagnosed cases of measles in Connecticut.

Renee Coleman-Mitchell, the state’s public health commissioner, called for state lawmakers to eliminate religious exemptions, saying she feels ​“very concerned” about the increasing number of schools that are ​“falling short” on vaccination rates.

“The data reveal that a sharp rise in the number of religious exemptions is causing declining immunization rates. This unnecessarily puts our children at risk for contracting measles and other vaccine preventable diseases,” Coleman-Mitchell said. ​“To address this unnecessary risk, I have recommended to Governor Lamont and legislative leadership that non-medical exemptions to vaccination be repealed. This will help ensure that all children in our state can learn in a healthy environment.”

Three district-run schools fell below the recommended threshold: Columbus Family Academy, at 90.0 percent and Lincoln-Bassett, at 93.8 percent; and Benjamin Jepson, which has missed the mark for two years running, at 94.6 percent.

Iline Tracey, the acting superintendent, said that the district gives parents about a month-long window to finalize their children’s vaccinations. She said that it’s better for students to keep coming to class, especially because that gives them access to the school-based health clinics where a nurse can deliver the shot with the parent’s permission.

“We expect students to be vaccinated,” Tracey said. ​“We try to make sure parents know the purpose of the school-based health clinic in their building and the Health Department downstairs [at Central Office]. We do that to prevent them from missing school time. But we still encourage them to, because [without herd immunity], then that raises the chronic absenteeism rate too.”

Three charter schools also missed the mark, reporting significantly lower vaccination rates.

At Amistad Academy, an Edgewood Avenue charter school within the Achievement First network, only 77.4 percent of kindergarteners had their MMR vaccinations, with 1.1 percent claiming a religious exemption, the state reported.

That ranks the school as the fourth lowest in the state — behind Achievement First Hartford Academy, another school in the charter network, a private school in Redding and a public school in Hartford. It’s worse than the 82.3 percent MMR vaccination rate among kindergarteners last year. And it is far lower than even Elm City College Prep, another school within the network, where every single student showed up with their full series of vaccinations this year.

“Immunizations are required to attend our schools, and Amistad is actively working on this issue,” Amanda Pinto, an Achievement First spokesperson, wrote in an email. ​“We reminded families of our policy in a communication earlier this month, and we will continue to work with families to get documentation of vaccinations as our policy and state law require.”

At Booker T. Washington Academy, a standalone charter school on Upper State Street, only 89.2 percent of kindergartners had their MMR vaccinations, with 2.7 percent claiming a religious exemption, the state reported — a stat that the school’s leadership disputes.

John Taylor, the school’s executive director, said that he isn’t sure why the school’s rates are so low, because the school requires all kindergarteners to have their vaccinations — or at least, proof of an upcoming medical appointment — before they can start. After this story was published, Taylor said that their files show the state’s numbers are inaccurate, since only three of the school’s 360 students did not have their vaccinations last year.

“Our policy is 100 percent,” Taylor wrote in an email. ​“We have had incidents where a parent could not get an appointment before the start of school. We only allow them to start if they prove they have appointments scheduled. We stay on them until we can verify the vaccinations are completed.”

And at Elm City Montessori School, a charter school on Blake Street that’s uniquely overseen by New Haven’s Board of Education, only 81.3 percent of kindergarteners had their MMR vaccinations, with 3.1 percent claiming a religious exemption, the state reported.

A medical expert said that seeing ​“those gaps,” like at the six New Haven schools identified by the state, should encourage more children to get vaccinated, since it’s still ​“the best strategy” for preventing infections.

“Even though overall, the United State is a country where we have great access to vaccines and the overall immunization rates is high, when you look at the details, you notice gaps,” said Marietta Vázquez, an associate professor of pediatrics at Yale. ​“Those gaps are very, very worrisome. We’ve seen it with measles, with mumps, with influenza — diseases that we thought we had a great handle on and now there are outbreaks.”

“This should not be a cause of alarm,” she added. ​“This should be a call to action.”

Families can get measles vaccines at their doctor’s office, the New Haven Health Department, the Cornell Scott Hill Health Center, or almost any pharmacy.