Doc: Vaccine exemptions a ‘risk’
Religious exceptions in the spotlight as vaccination rates fall for kindergartners
GREENWICH — As the latest data from the state shows falling vaccination rates for kindergartners in some Greenwich schools, a local pediatrician says an increase in exempting children from vaccines “puts everyone at risk.”
While state law requires kids to receive their “shots” before starting school, the latest data from the state Department of Public Health shows that the vaccination rate for measles, mumps and rubella among kindergartners is below the threshold for herd immunity at two public schools and three private schools in town.
“The religious exemption has gotten out of hand,” said Dr. Steven Schiz, director of pediatrics for Greenwich Hospital.
The religious exemption on vaccinations is very broad in Connecticut, Schiz said. Anyone can claim religious exemptions without any documentation or information on the religion being adhered to, he said.
“It’s a very loose arrangement,” he said. “It has been abused and puts everybody at risk.”
There is an increasing focus on the issue of schoolage immunization, especially for the MMR vaccine, following a large outbreak of measles last year in
New York state as well as four confirmed cases in Connecticut. Gov. Ned Lamont has pushed for the release of schoolbyschool data and called on the legislature to end religious exemptions to vaccines.
Updated vaccine rates were released on Oct. 21, following an initial release in August. The below percentages are specific to the MMR vaccine for the 201819 school year.
In Greenwich Public Schools, two buildings fall below the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommended vaccination rate for kindergarten: International School at Dundee at 89 percent and New Lebanon at 93.3 percent. ISD’s vaccination rate dropped by 10.9 percentage points over last year, while, New Lebanon’s rate dropped by 6.7 percentage points.
“As our website states, the commissioner of public health determines the standard of care for immunization for the children of this state,” said nurse Mary Keller, the supervisor for the school district’s health program.
Exemptions are permitted under certain circumstances, Keller said.
“Herd immunity is important because it protects people who cannot get vaccinated for legitimate reasons, (such as people with) a weak immune system, babies, those with vaccine allergies, or an immunesuppressing disease,” Sacred Heart University Master of Public Health Program Director Anna E. Greer said.
“Parents are strongly encouraged to vaccinate their children to protect their own children and others who are unable to get vaccines for legitimate reasons,” she continued.
This became a political battle in New York after a large measles outbreak, and Lamont added in his support for the release of records as well as the end to religious exemptions.
Among the private schools the variety for the MMR vaccine is even wider, with some schools as low as 84.4 percent and as high as 100 percent. Whitby School’s vaccination rate is 84.4 percent; Greenwich Catholic’s is 86.8 percent; Brunswick School’s is 88.9 percent.
Whitby declined to comment for this story.
Noelle Debes, spokesperson for Greenwich Catholic, said the school follows state guidelines for reporting, using information that is provided to it by parents.
Brunswick’s preschool, one building with 87 students in preschool and kindergarten, has a rate of 97.7 percent and a religious exemption rate of 2.3 percent, spokesperson Dan Griffin said.
“As an essential part of Brunswick's comprehensive Health & Wellness program, we take commitment to immunization very seriously,” headmaster Thomas Philip said in a statement.
Data release standards do not allow for data to be shared for schools with fewer than 30 enrolled kindergartners. Sacred Heart Greenwich, Eagle Hill School and Carmel Academy fall into this category.
Religious exemptions are the No.1 reason Connecticut families do not give their kindergartenage children the MMR vaccination.
Connecticut did not start making the number of religious exemptions public until 200304, Greer. Since then, the state have has seen an increase in the number of families claiming religious exemptions.
The largest jump in families claiming religious exemption for the MMR vaccine was from 201718 to 201819, when the number jumped 25 percent, she said.
While Greenwich has a high rate of vaccination in schools, religious exemptions likewise make up most of the exemptions cited in data released from the state Department of Public Health.
At ISD, the exemption rate is 5.5 percent: 1.8 percent are medical, and the remaining 3.6 percent are religious. All of New Lebanon’s vaccine exemptions are religious and reached a rate of 6.7 percent.
Whitby’s religious exemptions are at 6.3 percent. Of the 13.2 percent of the Greenwich Catholic population that is exempted from vaccines, 2.6 percent cite medical reasons while 10.5 percent cite religious reasons.
The religious exemption is very broad, said Schiz, director of pediatrics for Greenwich Hospital. “There are a handful of families willing to use it in Connecticut,” he said.
But the state does not ask for the religion being adhered to or passages being referenced, Schiz said.
“It’s a very loose arrangement,” he said. “That’s why states are ending it. It has been abused and puts everybody at risk.”
Widespread religious exemptions contributed to recent measles outbreaks, which led New York State to ban such exemptions.
“So I’m sure prior to this year, school system rates were similar in New York because families wanted to use the religious exemption,” Schiz said.
Many patients have come in to get vaccinated to attend school in New York state, Schiz said. In Greenwich, most families want to complete 100 percent of the vaccination schedule, and the concerns are significantly less, he said.
“Who knows if Connecticut is going to pass the legislation since the measles outbreak has passed,” Schiz said. “It’d be nice if the legislators in Connecticut would take this up.”
In September, Gov. Ned Lamont said that Connecticut should join the growing number of states that require medically able children who attend public schools to receive vaccinations for preventable diseases.
In Stamford, the private BiCultural Day School, which describes itself as a “progressive leader in secular and Judaic studies,” eliminated the religious exemption for vaccines last spring after the measles outbreak in New York, said David Pitkoff, president of the school’s board of trustees.
“We consulted with rabbis in the community and felt the religious exemption was no longer effective because of the danger measles posed to the community. I was really happy about it,” Pitkoff said. “All the rabbis — reform, conservative and orthodox, said the health of the child and saving a life overrides any concern.”
Pitkoff said since the state had not eliminated the exemption, the school decided it had to make the change itself.
According to the updated vaccine rates released in October, 5.5 percent of BiCultural students took a religious exemption. The BiCultural numbers are schoolwide and not specific to only kindergartners as that data was suppressed because of the low number of children who attend the private school.
Since the data comes from the 201819 school year, Pitkoff said the number of vaccinated students now is closer to 97 to 98 percent, with only a few students taking a medical exemption.