Oregon has the highest vaccination exemption rate in the nation. Parents whose children aren’t fully vaccinated, will start getting letters from the state this week warning about school exclusion day.
Some Oregon schools are seeing up to 70 percent of their students secure vaccination exemptions.
Children whose medical records show missing immunizations won’t be able to go to school or child care starting February 18.
But parents can get an exemption after hearing a doctor’s presentation, or watching an online video and printing off proof at the end.
“As of last school year seven percent of Oregon kindergartners had a non-medical exemption to one or more of the required vaccines. And that was the highest rate in the nation,” said Stacy de Assis Matthews with the Oregon Immunization Program.
The St. Thomas Becket Academy, a private school in Lane County, has the highest known exemption rate in Oregon — 72 percent.
But the state doesn’t report the rate in more than 800 smaller schools because of confidentiality concerns.
Find vaccination rate information for your school here
Copyright 2015 OPB