Our top story, a new California law is among the toughest in the nation and requiring students to get vaccinated before attending school. The new policy mandates all children who attend public or private schools be fully vaccinated regardless of their parents personal religious beliefs. It's a controversial law because some parents continue to have concerns about the safety of vaccines. San Diego unified is starting outreach program to get families prepare to comply with the new requirements. Joining me to talk about this are Michelle Bell, program manager of nursing & wellness, San Diego Unified School District and Dr. Mark Sawyer, UC San Diego . >> Michelle, let me start with you, an investigation by our news source found that overall about a percent of San Diego: kickers were under vaccinated last year. About half of those filed personal belief exemptions. Has San Diego unified wound the rate a personal exemption request has been increasing over the years? I think that would be a fair statement. San Diego unified, we've been working hard to educate our parents and our families rent immunization. I think within our district, we see about 1%. By going to the website, shots for schools.org, the rates of personal belief exception request very widely around the county. Kindergartners at Birney elementary had a 10% personal belief exemption rate last year. Parents request a personal relief exemption this year, what responsible to get? The same as they did last year, we will file -- follow the same procedures but let them know moving into the 16th , 17 school year, those personal belief waivers will be changing. Business as we have done it the last couple years will be the same as we do it this year it would just be more conversation around the immunization process and what is going to happen with the in general. >> What will that conversation be like?, Ill be talking to the parents about why their student should be immunized. The benefits of that along with talking to them about some of the possible side effects. Versus within the district received training from our in-house position that we have as a consultant. We get a lot of information not only from him but also from Children's Hospital in UCSD. >> Just so we're all on the same page, could you tell us what immunizations are required for students and at what grades? I'm going to deferred to Mark because I didn't bring my schedule and age is very. It does depend on the age. All children are required to receive the vaccine for diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis. A polio vaccine, measles mumps and rubella, and chickenpox. Those are the main ones in the school requirements. Things that physicians and parents get confused about, there's a list for school entry, and a larger list for vaccines that are recommended by the CDC in American Academy of pediatrics. >> There is one level before you enter kindergarten, this another time when kids are supposed to be vaccinated in the seventh grade, is that right? Do they get vaccines at that time? The >> In the seventh grade they make it the hepatitis B serious although that's not necessarily a requirement for schools but it's strongly encouraged. They make it an additional chickenpox at depending on the age when they had their first one or provide proof it had the disease. Minutes the pertussis vaccination for seventh grade. Dr., many people have pointed to the measles outbreak at Disneyland last December as the catalyst for this new California law. Most of the hundred 47 people that were infected were unvaccinated. Somewhere. How does this outbreak demonstrate the need for greater overall immunity in our population? The Disneyland measles outbreak illustrated lots of points about contagious disease and vaccines and how they can prevent them. First of all, what was really remarkable about to that outbreak is a single person walking around Disneyland contagious with the measles manage to ultimately in fact 150. That shows how powerful infectious diseases are and how rapidly they can spread. As you mentioned. Almost all the people infected with on immunized. It shows if you're not immunize your very susceptible. Most important, it should have measles is so contagious it can be transmitted in an open environment like Disneyland. It really changed the whole conversation around vaccine preventable diseases. They could happen to anybody and anywhere. >> You would have known that already. Why has the population forgotten that? >> We had been reaping the benefit of years of measles vaccinations since the 1960s. It's a very effective vaccines of you have enough of your population you guys, we don't see disease. And we didn't to for decades, we can see hardly any cases of measles. The last 5 to 10 years, we're seeing a steady increase in the percentage of children not immunized in schools interesting /faxing a steady increase in topics of measles. >> As Michelle was telling us, the school just to go have conversation and has had conversations with parents who are trying to get a personal belief exemption or waiver. They will not be able to do that next year. What kind of conversation or education to think would be most effective? >> I think parents are concerned about vaccines are acting out of a genuine concern for the safety of their children. Since they , with their circle of acquaintances maybe haven't seen some of these diseases, they are beginning to wonder if the vaccines are worth it if I don't see the disease. Disneyland illustrated how soon the diseases can come back as an infectious disease position, I continue to see all those diseases on the list at we vaccinate against so I know they are there. We know as levels of vaccination go down, the rates of disease go up. I think the most important advice I can give to parents who have these concerns is to talk to their pediatrician or family physician about a. Is a huge science behind the safety of vaccines. Yesterday more carefully than ever. In every case, the requirement for a vaccine is lower than the risk of getting exposed to and eventually getting the disease of the consequences of that disease. >> Michelle, you said you talk to potential side effects with these parents, what are they? For us as nurses, we see mostly the small side effects. Some Malays are not doing well maybe soreness at the injection site, fighting a low- grade fever. That's primarily what we do with at schools in getting families to understand these are normal side effects. How in which we as school nurses can support them in with their child has to stay home for a day, we had to administer some over-the-counter medications at school . Apply ice to the injection site, allow their children dress. The most important thing is making sure their kids are vaccinated, they understand the nurses in the schools are going to be there to support them and support their children. When this new law goes into effect , many kids already have personal belief exemptions will be grandfathered in. How will that work? >> We've been keeping a database in San Diego for a number of years. Will use the database to help us track those families. It would just be making sure we know where those tunes are in case there was outbreak that would have to call those parents and let them know they have to keep their child at home. That database is very important to us. >> The people who have received personal belief exemptions, maybe the child is another great, that child will not be required to be vaccinated to go into the grade next year? When they get to seventh grade, what will happen then? >> In seventh grade, they have to provide proof of immunization. >> They have to get up-to-date on those before they can enter seventh grade. >> What if somebody is already in seventh grade next year? Does that mean they won't have to be immunized? We will be asking for proof of immunization between eighth and 12th grade. >> I just wanted to comment as a result of that, it's going to take several years for us to see the full benefit of this law. Some children will continue to be on immunize ice -- I'm -- on immunized in school. >> Some doctors have been critical of that, are you one of them? >> This law only goes so far. It only affects your enrollment in school. Appears to who choose to homeschool their children may also choose to keep them on immunized subtopics may still happen, I think they'll have a list Bigley because more of the population will be immunized. It doesn't prevent us from having pockets of our population still susceptible. >> Another potential immunity problem or under vaccinated , who don't keep up with the booster shots they need, how does the school district monitor that? We still ask our parents to bring proof of immunization. We follow that within our schools. We still ask parents to bring us proof of immunization. We recommend during registration time every year, if your child isn't only up-to-date, on any of their shots, we give them the information about that and refer them back to their primary care physician. Even though there's not a requirement for us to do it in these other grades, we still do that as we have students entering our schools. If you go through that school shut -- shots for school.org website I mentioned, there under immunization is a huge problem. Huge incidents of under immunization in a San Diego schools. How do you plan on addressing that? >> It's taking a look at the children's immunizations. We part of the county for the immunization registry . When we have new students enrolling, part of our daily process with those families is to pull up the registry and see if they are missing any shots. If they are, we refer them. Their missing shots for schools, we send them to get those immunizations before they can enter. Idyllic as a district, we are very proactive. We want them in school but safely in school. They're not only missing their own education ever to have an outbreak that they are not affecting others education as well. >> I just wanted to address the issue of under vaccinated children and reassure parents that if your child is behind on a series of vaccines that takes 23 or four doses. You don't have to start all over, he just have to get the final doses you are missing. >> It's not such a difficult thing to get your child caught up. >> With astilbe medical exemptions to allow students to skip vaccinations. Yes. Medical exemptions continue as they do in all 50 states. >> There are rare medical conditions that make vaccines not advisable. They are very rare. There are very few conditions that exempt anybody. >> There will probably be parents you still won't want to immunize their children next year when this new law goes into effect the 2016 , 2017 school year. What options will they have? >> As far as the law states, their only two options are to put themselves into private homeschool or into an independent study that is integrated with any type of school Association. >> Private homeschool, they'll be limited attendance homeschool. It basically be the children at home with their parents, is that right? So Yes. The concerned physicians have is that parents who have had this approach to vaccines are going to cluster together in homeschools and that's where you'll see the outbreaks. Right now we see them in schools because we have so many children in the same place. The purpose of this law is to prevent that from happening. You can't do anything about homeschools. >> In your experience, does the scientific evidence about immunizations tends to overcome anxieties that parents have about them? For some families, the science doesn't seem to work for them. I think for them the important communication tip is to share stories about vaccine preventable diseases. >> I think for some people, that appeal works better than trying to inform them about the science. I want to say the science is very clear. There's no physicians who are concerned about vaccine safety. As a group, we feel the vaccines are much better than taking a chance with getting a disease. >> San Diego unified will be hosting an immunization clinic for adolescent students to receive their vaccines, that's a hell middle school on Thursday, August 27. I've been speaking with Michelle Bell, program manager of nursing & wellness, San Diego Unified School District and Dr. Mark Sawyer, UC San Diego .
San Diego Unified school officials are reminding parents to add vaccines to their child's back-to-school list.
The district requires students to show proof of immunization to attend class. Parents who opt out of vaccinations for their kids may file personal belief exemptions.
But those exemptions are going away in the 2016/2017 school year when California's controversial vaccine law goes into effect.
The law requires students who attend public and private schools to be immunized, excepting those that have medical exemptions.
School immunizations are checked at both kindergarten and seventh grade. Those that currently have personal belief exemptions will be grandfathered in until the student meets the next checkpoint.
"It's going to take several years for us to see the full benefit of the law," Dr. Mark Sawyer said.
San Diego Unified Program Manager of Nursing & Wellness Michelle Bell said nurses in the district are educating families about the new law and what is going to happen in the following school year.
KPBS media partner inewsource found that 8 percent of the county's kindergarteners were not up to date on their vaccines when they started the 2015-16 school year and nearly half of them had filed a non-medical personal belief exemption.
