Mountain Times - Volume 48, Number 23: June 5-11

The Mountain Times • June 5-11, 2019 STATE NEWS • 7
Vaccination rates receive increased attention
from schools, summer camps
By Felippe Rodrigues and Lola Duffort, VTDigger
State officials are asking public and private school
administrators to follow-up with the families of unvaccinated
children as a record number of measles cases are
reported across the country – and popping up in every
state and province bordering Vermont.
Vermont Health Commissioner Mark Levine said the
state needs to act “with the number of measles cases approaching
1,000 nationwide.”
Overall, Vermont’s vaccination rates are high – 94.5
percent of the state’s K-12 students are fully vaccinated,
and 97 percent have the MMR vaccine, which protects
against mumps, measles, and rubella. But top-line
numbers hide wide variability in vaccination rates, and
health officials are warning that under-immunized
communities are susceptible to outbreaks.
In a memo to administrators sent last week, Levine
and Education Secretary Dan French notified each public
and private school about their individual vaccination
rates. The state also makes immunization rate data on all
schools and licensed child care centers available online.
“Families of students who are provisionally enrolled,
and of exempt students, should be instructed to receive
needed vaccines over the summer and advised that adherence
to the school entry requirements will be strictly
enforced in the fall,” Levine and French wrote.
Health officials say schools should aim to have 95
percent of students immunized with the MMR vaccine
to achieve “community immunity,” which helps protects
those with compromised immune systems who cannot
get vaccinated against the spread of disease.
According to health department data, 294 schools
meet the 95 percent immunization threshold, and 110
THE WORST VACCINATION RATES
ARE FOUND IN SMALL RELIGIOUS
SCHOOLS THAT EACH ENROLL
FEWER THAN 20 STUDENTS.
don’t. Immunization rates are better in public schools,
where 97.4 percent of children have had both doses of
the MMR vaccine. In private schools, 93.2 percent do.
Measles is a highly infectious disease that can lead to
hospitalization and, in rare cases, even death. If contracted
while pregnant, it can also lead to miscarriage,
early birth, and low birth-weight. Symptoms include
a fever, full-body rash, cough, and runny nose. About
9 in 10 people with close contact to a person infected
with the virus will get the
disease if they are not
vaccinated, according to
public health officials.
The disease was considered
eliminated in the
United States in 2000, but
the country has since seen
outbreaks – sometimes severe – in the intervening years.
A record number of measles cases nationally have
been recorded this year. Public health officials largely
blame the anti-vaccine movement and the rise of misinformation
about the health risks of vaccines online.
Three elementary schools in the Windham Central
Supervisory Union have the worst MMR vaccination
rates in Vermont for public schools: Windham (62.5
percent), Jamaica Village (71.7 percent), and Marlboro
(82.9 percent) elementary schools. Windham Central superintendent
Bill Anton told WCAX last week that school
nurses were reaching out to parents and had already
seen rates improve since they’d been published by the
Health Department.
The worst vaccination rates are found in small religious
schools that each enroll fewer than 20 students.
The Brownington Parochial School and the three Twelve
Tribes Community Church schools (in Rutland, Island
Pond, and Bellows Pond) all have overall vaccination
rates of 0 percent.
But certain secular private schools with sizable
student populations also have very poor immunization
rates – most notably, all three of the state’s Waldorf
schools: at the Orchard Valley Waldorf School in East
Montpelier, only 43.8 percent
of children have the MMR
vaccine, at the Lake Champlain
Waldorf School in
Shelburne, only 66.5 percent
of students are immunized
against measles, and at the
Upper Valley Waldorf School
in Quechee, 78.4 percent of students are.
At the Lake Champlain Waldorf School, which enrolls
close to 200 children, director of development Laura Slesar
said the school mostly takes a hands-off approach.
“As a school we don’t feel like medical decisions are in
our purview,” she said.
Slesar stressed that the school makes sure the families
of unvaccinated children are following the law by filing
the necessary exemption paperwork, and that the
school provides to those families the legally mandated
information.
But the school isn’t flagging this as an item of concern.
“When we have faculty meetings, this isn’t one of the
things that teachers are talking about. As a school, our
position is that we comply with the law,” she said.
Vaccinations, page 14
World Cup:
continued from page 1
opportunity for the resort and the surrounding
community,” Mike Solimano,
resort president. “I am blown away by
the sheer size of the crowds, and their
enthusiasm leads me to believe that
we’ll continue to see large numbers of
spectators to watch the fastest female
ski racers in the world take on the Superstar
trail.”
The first year Killington hosted the
World Cup in 2016, it was the first World
Cup in the eastern USA since 1991 at
Waterville Valley, New Hampshire and
the first in Vermont since 1978 at Stratton
Mountain.
Like the other races, the 2019 and
2020 races at Killington will be broadcast
worldwide to more than 60 nations,
along with national broadcast
coverage across the US.
U.S. Ski Team member Mikaela Shiffrin
has won the slalom each of the last
three years at Killington.
“The Killington Cup has long been
a highlight of mine on the World Cup
tour the last three seasons,” said Shiffrin.
“In 2018 we – all of us together – set
a new precedent for ski racing internationally,
boasting the largest World Cup
crowd for women on the entire circuit.
To get that hat trick slalom victory in
front of thousands of screaming fans
at home is something I will never, ever
forget. I’m looking forward to once
Comes back to Killington
again competing on home soil.”and
general manager of Killington Resort. “I
continue to be blown away by the sheer
size of the crowds, and their enthusiasm
leads me to believe that we’ll continue
to see large numbers of spectators
to watch the fastest female ski racers in
the world take on the Superstar trail.”
The first year Killington hosted the
World Cup in 2016, it was the first World
Cup in the eastern USA since 1991 at
Waterville Valley, New Hampshire and
the first in Vermont since 1978 at Stratton
Mountain.
Like the other races, the 2019 and
2020 races at Killington will be broadcast
worldwide to more than 60 nations,
along with national broadcast coverage
across the US.
U.S. Ski Team member Mikaela Shiffrin
has won the slalom each of the last
three years at Killington.
“The Killington Cup has long been a
highlight of mine on the World Cup tour
the last three seasons,” said Shiffrin. “In
2018 we – all of us together – set a new
precedent for ski racing internationally,
boasting the largest World Cup crowd
for women on the entire circuit. To get
that hat trick slalom victory in front of
thousands of screaming fans at home is
something I will never, ever forget. I’m
looking forward to once again competing
on home soil.”
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