School started today in Baltimore, and students who missed the deadline to get up to date on their vaccinations are in for a rude awakening.
According to WMAR, thousands of students could be affected by the crackdown. As the news spreads, officials are hoping more students will be up to date on their vaccinations thanks to health centers that offers them for free.
Unvaccinated students are not just a problem in Baltimore, but across the state of Maryland. When last checked, around 3,800 students were not up to date on their vaccinations.
With Monday being the deadline, it’s likely that a comparable number will barred from walking on campus.
The law requires that students in kindergarten, first, and second grade receive two doses of the chicken pox vaccine. Students in seventh through ninth grade are required to have one dose of the meningitis vaccine plus one dose of the T-dap vaccine.
“Vaccinations are effective, they’re safe and they are life-saving,” Baltimore City Health Commissioner Dr. Leana Wen said according to WBALTV.
“It’s really important that parents make sure their kids receive their immunizations to protect themselves and other kids around them.”
According to Baltimore school officials, the highest level of unvaccinated students are in kindergarten and the ninth grade.
In August, 145 children in the Folsom Cordova Unified School District in California were sent home for lack of immunization records as a result of the new state law which took effect in July 1, eliminating personal/religious belief exemptions for vaccines.
Vaccinations have been required in California schools since 1962. But in the wake of a measles outbreak last year, Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill into law that eliminated the personal and religious belief exemptions that anti-vaxxers often used to get around the mandate.
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