Introduction to the Issue
Florida is no longer publishing vaccination rates for individual public school campuses, leaving the public without a key piece of information to protect children as state leaders say they intend to end longstanding requirements for students to get shots.
While vaccination data is still available county by county, the state’s failure to provide more localized numbers could mask geographic pockets where immunization rates are particularly low, putting people in those areas at risk from an outbreak, public health experts say.
Importance of School-Level Vaccination Data
“When it comes to vaccine-preventable diseases, what really matters is the community that your child is in every day,” said Jason Salemi, a professor at the University of South Florida’s Department of Epidemiology, explaining the value of school-level vaccination data. It’s not clear why the Florida Department of Health, which previously compiled and published this data, no longer makes it available. The most recent data available is from January 2023, just after Gov. Ron DeSantis was elected to his second term. The health department did not respond to an inquiry from the Orlando Sentinel.
Decline in Vaccination Rates
But the reporting change comes as Florida county and state vaccination rates have been dropping for years. Parents have increasingly obtained religious exemptions that allow their children to avoid requirements to obtain key vaccinations in order to attend school. DeSantis and Ladapo said on Sept. 3 they want to jettison vaccine requirements altogether, though eliminating some of the required shots will require action from the Legislature and it’s not clear whether DeSantis and Ladapo will get the support they need. Last school year, less than 89% of Florida public and private school kindergarteners were fully immunized, continuing a steep decline since the pandemic. That rate is well below the 95% level, sometimes referred to as herd immunity, which makes it unlikely that a single infection will spark a disease cluster or outbreak.
Risks of Low Vaccination Rates
School-age children who aren’t vaccinated risk transmitting disease not only to their classmates at school but people in other public areas they frequent, such as grocery stores and parks. Areas with low vaccination rates can be particularly risky for children too young to be vaccinated, the elderly and immunocompromised people, said Dr. Jennifer Takagishi, the vice president for Florida’s chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. The campus-level data is especially important for parents choosing where their children should attend school, she said. “If we want parents to make informed decisions about their child and their risk, they need to have the information to make those kinds of decisions,” said Takagishi, who is based in Tampa. “If their school has a very low vaccination rate, that’s maybe not going to be the right school for their child anymore.”
Challenges in Obtaining School-Level Data
When an Orlando Sentinel reporter recently requested school-by-school vaccination data from health officials in Central Florida counties, agency spokespeople offered nearly identical responses, saying the state provides only countywide rates and suggesting the reporter contact the local school districts for data on individual campuses. But when the reporter requested school-level data from four Central Florida districts, only Lake County provided the vaccination and exemption rates for each campus for the current school year. Public information officers for the Orange, Osceola and Seminole school districts said they didn’t have this data, though parents currently must submit proof that their child is up-to-date on vaccines or has obtained an exemption when they register for school.
Variations in Vaccination Rates Across Counties
Though vaccination has become a political issue across Florida, with mostly Republicans pushing to end state-mandated shots, Health Department data shows parents in right-leaning counties are not necessarily more likely to obtain exemptions than their counterparts in more liberal areas of the state. In rural Taylor County, for example, where 64% of voters are registered as Republicans, 97% of last year’s kindergartners were vaccinated. And one of the state’s bluest areas, Broward County, reported one of the lowest vaccination rates, with just 82% of children starting kindergarten with all of their shots. But campus-level data from the Lake school district illustrates how reporting only countywide rates can mask pockets where vaccination rates are particularly low.
Examples of Low Vaccination Rates
At Leesburg Elementary School, for example, more than 95% of students were fully vaccinated. But at Astatula Elementary, just 82% had received their shots, according to the data provided by the district. That campus, in a rural area south of Tavares, has 17% of its students claiming exemptions, meaning they didn’t need to provide proof of immunization to register for school. Researchers, public health workers and school administrators all have good reasons to want to know whether most students on an individual campus have received their shots, Salemi said. “The goal of data like this would not be to single out or ostracise parents or schools or children,” he said. “It’s just about prevention.”
Conclusion
Overall, kindergarteners in nearly every Central Florida county were less likely to be vaccinated than the state average. Orange posted the lowest rate in the Central Florida region, with slightly more than 85% of kindergartners having all their shots, four percent below the state average. Andrea Rice’s children, ages 3 years and 5 months old, are still years away from starting school, but Florida’s stance on vaccines has already prompted her to consider leaving the community where she grew up. She said she thinks people have forgotten about the dangers of once-common diseases like measles and polio because they were eliminated by vaccines. Now measles has made a comeback, with more than 1,500 cases reported across the country this year and she fears other viruses could, too. Whooping cough, for example, often results in hospitalization or even death in infants. And knowing how many kids at her children’s schools would provide a valuable piece of information, the Winter Springs mom said. “Data saves lives and it has gotten us to where we are, to where the first time ever, the majority of kids reach adulthood,” Rice said.
FAQs
Q: Why is the Florida Department of Health no longer publishing vaccination rates for individual public school campuses?
A: The reason for this change is not clear, as the health department did not respond to an inquiry from the Orlando Sentinel.
Q: What is the current vaccination rate for kindergarteners in Florida?
A: Last school year, less than 89% of Florida public and private school kindergarteners were fully immunized.
Q: Why is school-level vaccination data important?
A: School-level vaccination data is important because it allows parents to make informed decisions about their child’s risk and choose a school with a high vaccination rate.
Q: Can parents obtain school-level vaccination data from their local school districts?
A: Some school districts, like Lake County, provide school-level vaccination data, but others, like Orange, Osceola, and Seminole, do not.
Q: What are the risks of low vaccination rates?
A: Low vaccination rates can lead to outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases, putting children, the elderly, and immunocompromised people at risk.
