Pennsylvania needs to change the way it tracks school children’s immunizations and more kids need to be vaccinated against preventable diseases, according to a report released Friday by a bipartisan group of state policymakers.
The report on youth vaccinations among K-12 students said that not enough children are being immunized by federal standards. Only 10 of 67 counties in Pennsylvania had vaccination rates for measles, mumps and rubella -- the MMR vaccine -- of 95 percent or higher, the group reported. Doctors strive for a rate of 95 percent or higher to keep the easily spread infections, like measles, at bay.
They also highlighted lax rules around how easily a parent can have their child exempt from being vaccinated and issues about the availability of collected immunization data.
Last year, NBC10 discovered flaws with immunization records collected by the Pennsylvania Department of Health following a review of data from hundreds of school districts around the state. Records for some districts were wildly incorrect leaving open the potential for a slowed response to a disease outbreak. Health department officials said the records were being corrected and that new systems were being put in place to double-check record accuracy.
In the study, the group stated a need to strengthen vaccination reporting by requiring schools report immunization records into a statewide tracking database. Currently, schools have access to the database, but using it is voluntary.
More than a dozen recommendations were made around collecting more data about vaccinations, providing more education to families about the importance of vaccinations, and implementing stricter enforcement of state regulations.
The rules of what should be required to grant a philosophical exemption to being vaccinated should be more clear, the group said. Under this exemption, parents can opt out of having their kids immunized based on personal objection to the practice. The exemption is granted at the discretion of school administrators.
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“The Work Group recommends that the Department of Health and the Department of Education provide clear procedures and criteria for documenting and certifying the allowable exemptions,” the group wrote. They did seek to change any of the exemptions.
In another recommendation, the group called for a shortening in the amount of time a student can be in school without being fully immunized. Currently, a student has eight months to get up to date on their shots before being barred from school.
The state should ensure school nurses have access to an online database of vaccination records and provide public, district level reports of vaccination rates, the group said.
Other recommendations include updating the required list of vaccinations children should get and connecting immunization reporting systems to strengthen data collection.
The 15 member confab, made up of lawmakers, health officials and policy makers, conducted the study for the Joint State Government Commission, the research arm of the state House and Senate, at the request of State Sen. Shirley Kitchen of Philadelphia (Pa. - 3rd). Kitchen is the minority chair of the Senate committee on Public Health and Welfare.
“We were hoping that the study would have painted a better picture of Pennsylvania’s oversight of vaccinations. Instead, it confirmed our fears,” Kitchen said in a statement.
Kitchen said she’s hopeful the state will adopt the group’s recommendations soon.
