Asbury Park's School Immunization Rate

The measles outbreak has people asking: Is your child safe? And is he or she going to a school where children are disease free?

You can find out what the immunization rate is in Asbury Park compared to other local towns (see below).

Patch has compiled lists of towns with schools that have the highest-to-lowest vaccination rates, as well as the towns with the highest religious and medical exemptions. The state Department of Health numbers come from the most recent years available, from 2016 to 2018. Some schools even high numbers of "uknown status."

Read more: Every NJ Town's School Immunization Rate: Where Do You Rank?

While the highest number of religious exempts were in Peapack and Gladstone (27 percent), a number of Jersey Shore towns – where the measles outbreak has been most prevelant – had a large number of students who were allow to skip vaccinations.

The communities with high religious exemptions include the Monmouth and Ocean County towns of Spring Lake Heights (17.90 percent), Ship Bottom (13.80 percent), Atlantic Highlands (11.50 percent), Colts Neck (11.40 percent) and Lavallette (10.90 percent).

This past week, two more cases of measles were confirmed in the current outbreak of the virus in Ocean and Monmouth counties, the state Department of Health announced. Read more: 11 Measles Cases In 2019 Ocean County Outbreak, State Says

Other counties, such as Bergen, also have been dealing with the issue. Read more: Measles Outbreak In New Jersey: Potential Exposure In 3 Counties

Here is how the Department of Health has classified each case of immunization and non-immunization:

• Immunized: Students who meet all the minimum immunization requirements as set forth in the regulations.
• Provisional: Student has received a minimum of one dose of each required vaccine and is actively in the process of completing the series in accordance with health officials' recommended minimum interval catch-up schedule.
• Medical Exemption: A written statement, signed by a physician or advanced practice nurse, indicates that an immunization is medically contraindicated for a specific period of time, based upon valid medical reasons.
• Religious Exemption: A written statement, signed by the parent or guardian of the pupil, indicates that the proposed immunization interferes with the free exercise of the pupil's religious rights.

Here are a few things you should know before reviewing the numbers:

• The state, which provided vaccination data after Patch made a records request, relies on data reported by schools for students typically in Pre-K, Kindergarten, 1st grade and 6th grade.
• The data are self-reported by the schools and are not verified by DOH or the local health department.

Below are local towns their rates of immunization, their rates of religious exemptions, their rates of medical exemptions and their rates of provisional classifications:

Immunized:

• (85th) Belmar 97.90%
• (331st) Asbury Park 94.80%
• (439th) Manasquan 91.90%
• (463rd) Point Pleasant Boro 90.50%
• (475th) Point Pleasant Beach 89.60%

Religious exemptions:

• (27th) Point Pleasant Boro 8.00%
• (36th) Point Pleasant Beach 7.50%
• (49th) Manasquan 6.70%
• (407th) Asbury Park 1.30%
• (416th) Belmar 1.20%

Medical exemptions:

• (35th) Manasquan 1.00%
• (49th) Belmar 0.80%
• (81st) Point Pleasant Beach 0.60%
• (209th) Asbury Park 0.10%
• (252nd) Point Pleasant Boro 0.20%

Provisional:

• (39th) Asbury Park 2.30%
• (52nd) Point Pleasant Beach 1.70%
• (96th) Point Pleasant Boro 1.20%
• (251st) Manasquan 0.40%

Uknown status:

• (73rd) Asbury Park 1.60%
• (140th) Point Pleasant Beach 0.60%
• (248th) Point Pleasant Boro 0.10%