Vaccination rates hit an all-time high for California kindergartners, the California Department of Public Health said Wednesday as it announced its first findings since a new law ended the era of the “personal belief exemption” that allowed thousands of parents to choose not to vaccinate their children who attend public and private schools.
The percentage of kindergartners who received all required vaccines rose to 95.6 percent in 2016-17, up from the 92.8 percent rate in 2015-16. This is the highest reported rate for the current set of immunization requirements, which began in the 2001-02 school year, the state said.
“It’s a great thing for California kids,” said Catherine Flores Martin, director of the California Immunization Coalition. “It’s a big win for schools and communities.”
To be clear, California parents do not have to immunize their children. But under the new law, Senate Bill 277, passed in 2015, children must be immunized against 10 serious communicable diseases if they want to attend public or private schools and child care centers. If unvaccinated, children must be home schooled or enrolled in independent study with no classroom instruction or receiving special education services, the California Department of Public Health said.
Children may be granted a medical exemption to vaccinations with a note from a doctor attesting that the child’s health condition prohibits vaccinations. Rates of medical exemptions rose to 0.5 percent in 2016-17 from 0.2 percent in 2015-16. The California Department of Health also released a new category of information – 0.5 percent of kindergartners were reported as lacking full immunization because they attended private home schools or independent study programs or received special education services.