Oakland schools on state vaccination watch list

"The state of California is auditing 428 of its public schools because more than 10% of kindergartners or seventh grade students were not fully vaccinated last school year. Thirty-four Oakland public schools were on the list.An additional 80 schools did not report their vaccination information to the state. Shifting federal policies and new measles cases have made vaccination a national conversation again."

"Last year, there were 2,255 measles cases nationwide - the most since the 1990s. California's Department of Public Health reported 25 cases of measles in the state last year. In January, an unvaccinated student in Napa County was diagnosed with measles after being exposed while visiting South Carolina."

""I think California's still in a good place in terms of the protections that we have," said Catherine Flores Martin, executive director of the California Immunization Coalition. "A dip in California can be a couple hundred students, and that's a lot of students, but compared to the rest of the nation we are ahead.""

California is auditing 428 public schools because more than 10% of kindergartners or seventh graders were not fully vaccinated last school year. Thirty-four Oakland public schools were included and 80 schools failed to report vaccination information. Nationwide measles cases rose to 2,255 last year, and California reported 25 cases; an unvaccinated Napa County student contracted measles after exposure in South Carolina. Although fewer schools are on the audit list than in prior years, 110 schools have appeared there for at least three years. Kindergarten vaccination rates fell to 93.7% in 2023-24. In Oakland, Elmhurst United Middle School had 63% of seventh graders needing vaccinations. Noncompliant districts risk losing state funding.

Read at The Oaklandside