Posted on 08/29/2024 5:42:05 PM PDT by DoodleBob
BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) – The percentage of incoming kindergarten students who are not vaccinated due to personal belief exemptions has increased slightly in North Dakota, but one health official said many families are getting caught up on vaccines as students get older.
About 6% of incoming kindergarten students did not have the required immunizations last fall, with personal beliefs accounting for 4.5% of the exemptions, according to the state Department of Health and Human Services immunization dashboard.
Vaccine exemptions for personal or religious beliefs have trended upward for kindergarten students over the past decade, the state data shows, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Scott Faul, superintendent for Minot Public Schools, said he believed exemptions increased in Minot after the pandemic because parents thought they were going to require COVID-19 vaccinations, which the state doesn’t require. He also said prior to the pandemic the school used to have students register to have the required 11th grade meningitis booster administered through a community health partner on campus, but he thinks those days have passed due to the perceived controversial nature of vaccines.
“After COVID, there’s no way we wanted to get into that,” Faul said.
In North Dakota, five vaccinations are required for a student to attend kindergarten. Those vaccinations are: measles, mumps and rubella (MMR), diphtheria, tetanus and acellular pertussis (DTaP), chickenpox, hepatitis B and polio. Additional vaccinations are required for those entering into seventh grade and 11th grade.
Danni Pinnick, immunization surveillance coordinator for the Department of Health and Human Services, said it’s important not to shame people who don’t vaccinate themselves or their children.
“They are not going to have their minds changed by that,” Pinnick said.
In North Dakota, parents must list one of three possible reasons for their child to be exempted from the statewide vaccine requirements. First, a parent may cite a personal or religious belief exemption, which means they object due to a “sincerely held philosophical, moral or religious belief.” Second, a parent may submit a certificate from a doctor that cites a medical exemption. Lastly, an exemption may be granted based on a history of disease with the student.
Faul also served as a high school principal in Minot and said he knows some seniors who were exempted during their K-12 education who were scrambling to catch up on vaccinations to complete their college admission processes.
The data showed vaccination rates increase as students progress through school with about 3% of seventh graders and about 2% of 11th graders exempted from vaccine requirements last year.
“If you think about the fact that they are going to the doctor every year, there’s more opportunities for the family to talk to the doctor and kind of get comfortable with the idea of getting caught up on some of the vaccines they had missed,” Pinnick said.
She also said that some parents have been waiting to vaccinate their children until they are 4 or 5 years old so they can hit certain developmental milestones before they are vaccinated.
However, Pinnick said that strategy can become an issue because more than 136,000 deaths were caused by measles worldwide last year with many occurring in children under age 5.
“It’s really scary for us because we know the most vulnerable people are young children,” she said. “We really don’t want families to be delaying (the MMR) vaccine, but they are delaying them with a plan without really considering the consequences if they got that disease.”
Rupak Gandhi, superintendent for Fargo Public Schools, said vaccinations are essential for maintaining a safe and healthy school environment.
“They prevent the spread of contagious diseases, protecting not only those who are vaccinated but also those who cannot be vaccinated due to medical reasons,” Gandhi said in a statement.
Fargo Public Schools reported a more than 96% vaccination compliance rate across its schools last year.
Vaccination data is collected by the Department of Health and Human Services from schools each October through a statewide survey.
North Dakota participates in the national Vaccines for Children (VFC) program, which helps provide vaccines to children from newborn to 18 years old who may not have health insurance, Pinnick said. Providers are available around the state. More information on the vaccination program can be found on the HHS website.
“It’s similar to, kind of like a free lunch program,” Pinnick said. “The kid doesn’t have to know if they are getting a free vaccine or an insurance-provided vaccine, it’s the same thing.”
With a mad scientist like Fauci there is no telling what they are mixing into vaccines today. The disease might be safer than the shot. My kids each got chicken pox naturally and did fine. We were happy to get it and build up the immunity.
I blindly had my daughter vaxed as recommended/required. However, since Covid I have stopped. She’s about to turn 11 but I can see no benefit in the HPV.
As for me, no more vaccines. I made the mistake of taking the shingles vaccines recently, made me feel worse. No more flu, covid, other for me.
Do I really need the /sarc
*Note that today, if one gets a flu shot you are getting the China Virus 19 Shot.
So why the redundancy?
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“My kids each got chicken pox naturally and did fine”
Shingles will be happy to hear that.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/shingles/symptoms-causes/syc-20353054
” I made the mistake of taking the shingles vaccines recently, made me feel worse.”
You felt worse because your immune system recognized the varicella-zoster particles that make up the vaccine and attacked them.
That’s telling you that you once had chicken pox and that the virus is laying dormant in your nerves. The virus can reactivate later in life as shingles. If it erupts on your face and involves your eye it can blind you.
No mandatory vaccinations period. You want them get them. Personal choice not a government mandate
6 yr old granddaughter just had a vax, she came down with RSC, STREPH, AND COVID. STOP THE JABS.
My grandaughter had Gardasil at 16, nearly died. Now has RA abd Fibromyalgia. Life time of pain.
I recently read about Marin County, California. Since 2000, they have the lowest rate of autism. A group of moms started informing others to space their children’s shots out more than the CDC recommendations. Parents listened and the autism rate fell. Too many shots at one time is not a good thing.
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