Bethany, Woodbridge School-By-School Vaccination Rates Released

BETHANY/WOODBRIDGE, CT — The State Department of Health released a school-by-school list of vaccination rates in Connecticut. The decision comes after a number of measles outbreaks throughout the country. There have been more than 700 individual cases of measles in the U.S. from Jan. 1 to April 26 with the disease appearing in 22 states. Connecticut has had three confirmed cases.

Overall the immunization rate for Measles, Mumps, Rubella vaccine is 96.5 percent for kindergarteners and 98.4% for 7th graders in Connecticut, according to DPH’s 2017-2018 survey.

Connecticut's child vaccination rates overall are higher than the national average, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. However, there are some schools in Connecticut that have more than 30 percent of its students who have at least one vaccine exemption largely due to religious reasons, according to state officials.

“This data is startling and needs to be addressed," said Gov. Ned Lamont. "This cannot become a public health crisis as we have seen in other states. Making sure all of our young students in Connecticut are safe is the number one priority.”

2019 has the most cases of measles out of any year dating back to at least 2010, according to the CDC. The CDC recommends children get two doses of the MMR vaccine with the first dose coming between 12 and 15 months of age and the second between 4 and 6-years-old. One dose is about 93% effective at preventing the disease and two doses are about 97% effective.

Measles is highly contagious. The CDC estimates that up to 90 percent of people who come into contact with an infected person who are not immune will become infected. The disease can spread through a small community with a large number of unvaccinated people like wildfire.

Below are the schools with the highest rate of vaccine exemptions.

1. Housatonic Valley School, Newtown: 37.7%
2. Giant Steps CT School, Fairfield: 34.2%
3. Crossway Christian Academy, Putnam: 25.9%
4. Prospect Elementary School, Prospect: 25.6%
5. Milford Christian Academy, Milford: 23.3%
6. Christian Life Academy, Brookfield: 20.8%
7. Haddam Elementary School, Haddam: 19.5%
8. Meliora Academy, Meriden: 18.5%
9. Oak Grove Montessori, Mansfield: 17.6%
10. The Speech Academy, Easton: 17%

The U.S. started a measles vaccination program in 1963. Before that about three to four million people got the disease each year with 400 to 500 deaths and 48,000 hospitalizations. The disease has been reduced by more than 99 percent since the start of vaccinations.

DPH Commissioner Renee Coleman-Mitchell wrote to school superintendents about her intention to release the data for two reasons. One was because parents of children who can’t be vaccinated due to immune issues should know the risk level of encountering unvaccinated children at school. The other reason was to reveal areas that have high aversion to vaccinations so that public health education can take place.

Data is self-reported by schools to DPH and is from the 2017-2018 school year. Data isn’t shared for schools with less than 30 students. Information is collected in the fall at the beginning of the school year and immunization rates may be higher as students come of age and get more vaccines, according to DPH. The data is collected on each child and not each vaccine, so if a student has an exemption for one or more vaccines they are counted as exempt.

Here are Amity, Bethany and Woodbridge school vaccination exemption rates:

Amity Regional High School
25 Newton Rd.
Woodbridge
0.1% (Religious exemption)
0.2% (Medical exemption)
0.3% (Total exemption)

Beecher Road School
40 Beecher Rd.
Woodbridge
1.3% (Religious exemption)
2.3% (Medical exemption)
3.6% (Total exemption)

Ezra Academy
75 Rimmon Road
Woodbridge
0.0% (Religious exemption)
0.0% (Medical exemption)
0.0% (Total exemption)

Amity Middle School: Bethany
190 Luke Hill Rd.
Bethany
1.2% (Religious exemption)
0.0% (Medical exemption)
1.2% (Total exemption)

Bethany Community School
44 Peck Road
Bethany
0.0% (Religious exemption)
0.6% (Medical exemption)
0.6% (Total exemption)