School-By-School Vaccination Rates In CT Released For 2018-19

HARTFORD, CT — The state Department of Public Health released the 2018-2019 kindergarten school immunization data for all schools with more than 30 kindergarten students. The data shows that there are 134 schools throughout the state where the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine rate for kindergarteners falls below the federal recommendation 95 percent.

The overall statewide religious exemption rate increased 25 percent between two school years from two percent to 2.5 percent; it is the largest single year increase since the state started tracking data a decade ago. The national rate for non-medical exemptions for kindergarteners is 2.2 percent.

Overall 96.1 percent of statewide kindergarteners have their MMR vaccine with the public school rate at 96.4 percent and the private school rate at 92.4 percent.

“While it is good that state-wide in Connecticut we are still meeting the federally recommended
MMR vaccination rate of 95% for kindergarteners, I am very concerned that the number of schools falling short of this important immunization level continues to rise,” said DPH Commissioner Renee Coleman-Mitchell. “The data reveal that a sharp rise in the number of religious exemptions is causing declining immunization rates."

High vaccination rates not only protect vaccinated children, but also protect those who can't receive vaccinations for other reasons thanks to herd immunity.

Gov. Ned Lamont said releasing the data was a win for transparency and will aid policymakers.

“This information needs to be available to the public and lawmakers so they are not operating in the dark as they make decisions for their families and shape public policy,” he said. “I want to make it absolutely clear – nothing in the data that was released today identifies any individual student. Rather, it constitutes important public health statistical data critical to the ongoing debate on this trend, which is happening not just in our state, but throughout the country. I do not see any justifiable reason why the public should be blocked from having access to this information, and I hope it is used for exactly what we intended – to better inform people on both sides of this issue."

There have been 1,250 cases of measles reported across 31 states this year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Three of the cases were in Connecticut and there were more than 1,000 in Brooklyn and Rockland County, NY.

The entire DPH report can be found on the state website, which includes a breakdown by type of vaccination.