Clatsop County Department of Public Health reminds that Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024, is School Immunization Exclusion Day. If a child does not have vaccine records showing proper immunizations, that child will not be able to attend school or child care.
Under Oregon state law, all children in public and private schools, preschools, Head Start, and certified childcare facilities must have up-to-date documentation on their immunizations or have an exemption.
There are two age groups that need to increase vaccine levels:
- Kindergarten age youth need to receive their second measles vaccine.
- 12-year-old youth need to be vaccinated for TDap). Tdap is a combination of three vaccines that protect against tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis.
- TETANUS enters the body through cuts or wounds and causes painful stiffening of the muscles. It can lead to serious health problems, including being unable to open the mouth, having trouble swallowing and breathing, or death.
- DIPHTHERIA can lead to difficulty breathing, heart failure, paralysis, or death.
- PERTUSSIS, also known as “whooping cough,” can cause uncontrollable, violent coughing that makes it hard to breathe, eat, or drink. Pertussis can be extremely serious especially in babies and young children, causing pneumonia, convulsions, brain damage, or death. In teens and adults, it can cause weight loss, loss of bladder control, passing out, and rib fractures from severe coughing.
“The purpose of the state school immunization law is to ensure all children get recommended vaccines to build strong immunity against many infectious diseases among children,” said Public Health Director Jiancheng Huang. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), tens of thousands of people in the United States get sick with vaccine preventable diseases.
The 2022-2023 school year showed the deep decline in the number of Oregon children who were not fully vaccinated compared to vaccine rates in 2000-2001.
“Immunizations are the best way to protect children against vaccine-preventable diseases such measles, rubella, and varicella. They keep kids and school communities healthy and safe, Recent measles outbreaks among unvaccinated children and adults in the nation and the in other countries remind us the importance of vaccine and vaccination” he said.
The Department of Public Health will bill insurance but no child will be turned away if they cannot pay for immunizations. Parents wanting to have their children vaccinated at the Department should call 503-325-8500.
Many pharmacists can immunize children seven and older. Parents can contact their neighborhood pharmacy for details or their child’s pediatrician
Additional information on school immunizations can be found at the Immunization Program website.
Statewide school vaccination data is available on the Oregon Health Authority website or at OHA’s School Law Immunization Dashboard
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