As childhood vaccinations rates slip in the United States and the country grapples with its worst measles outbreak in over three decades, local health officials are urging families to ensure their children are fully immunized as the school year fast approaches.
Their appeal comes amid a wave of vaccine mistrust and misinformation, even as Marin maintains some of the highest rates in California.
“We cannot afford to let immunization coverage slip,” Dr. Lisa Santora, Marin County’s health officer, said in a statement late last month. “Vaccines are one of our most powerful tools for ensuring every child—regardless of race, zip code or income—has the opportunity to grow up healthy and safe.”
California law requires children in public and private schools, as well as those in daycare and preschool programs, to be immunized against a range of diseases. Homeschool and non-classroom-based independent programs are exempt.
Nationwide, vaccination rates are falling short of the 95 percent threshold needed to prevent outbreaks. As of last week, 1,333 measles cases had been reported across the country, surpassing a 2019 record and putting the country at risk of losing the measles elimination status it has held since 2000.
Fourteen states, including California, are battling active outbreaks, though no cases have been reported in Marin, where more than 97 percent of kindergarteners are vaccinated against measles. But Dr. Santora warns that skepticism fueled by shifts in federal policy and social media could undermine that success. “As the administration undermines trust in vaccine safety, we may start seeing organic shifts in parent acceptance of the recommended vaccine schedule,” she said.
Each fall, Marin Health and Human Services meets with school nurses, who must report vaccination records to the state by Sept. 30. Students who lack required shots are placed on conditional admission while families and nurses work to bring them up to date. All 50 states allow medical exemptions from vaccination mandates, and most offer the same right for religious reasons. Fifteen states still allow parents to opt out for philosophical reasons. California was once among them.
After a 2014 measles outbreak traced to Disneyland, legislators passed S.B. 277, which did away with personal belief exemptions. The law increased immunization rates, particularly in Marin, which once had one of the state’s highest exemption rates, driven by parents skeptical of conventional medicine. In 2014, more than half the kindergarteners in one of two elementary programs at the Lagunitas School District opted out of one or more vaccines.
But the legislation marked a turning point, and by 2016, vaccine rates in Marin had risen to 93.2 percent. They have remained high, even as vaccine-hesitant families have sought workarounds by homeschooling, relocating or seeking out sympathetic physicians.
Now fresh uncertainty is looming over vaccine policy at the federal level. “We don’t know what changes are ahead of us with access to vaccines,” Dr. Santora said. “So we’re just taking every opportunity to pound the drum about staying up to date and preparing the community in case new changes come.”