Students in grades 7-12 have 30 days after start of classes to
show proof of whooping cough immunization
San Benito County middle school and high school students now
have 30 days from the start of classes to get a whooping cough
vaccine, if they haven’t already.
”
We’ve been advertising it in the community since last
January,
”
said Jeanne Melius, the director of nursing with the county
public health department, of the need for the vaccination.
”
I’m very hopeful that this additional time frame will allow
everyone to get their children vaccinated so that they will not
miss school.
”
Students in grades 7-12 have 30 days after start of classes to show proof of whooping cough immunization
San Benito County middle school and high school students now have 30 days from the start of classes to get a whooping cough vaccine, if they haven’t already.
“We’ve been advertising it in the community since last January,” said Jeanne Melius, the director of nursing with the county public health department, of the need for the vaccination. “I’m very hopeful that this additional time frame will allow everyone to get their children vaccinated so that they will not miss school.”
Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill July 25 that allows seventh- through 12th-graders 30 days after the start of school to show a current vaccine for pertussis, commonly known as whooping cough. This is the first year students have been required to have the immunization to attend school but as the first day of class edges closer, many local students still haven’t submitted their paperwork.
Before the deadline extension was announce San Benito High School and the San Benito County Department of Health had scheduled a Tdap vaccination clinic Aug. 8, from 2 to 7 p.m., at San Benito High School’s New Campus administration building, on Nash Road near Powell Street. The clinic is still set to take place.
California state law requires that students entering seventh grade through 12th grade have proof of the Tdap, or pertussis whooping cough vaccine, by 30 days after classes start.
Melius noted that in future years the task of vaccinating students will not be as daunting, as just seventh-grade students will need to vaccinated as the other grades will already have current vaccinations from this year.
“It was a few thousand students (who needed the vaccination this year) by the time you add in the eighth, ninth, 10th, 11th and 12th-graders,” she said.
Angela Gladstone, an immunization coordinator, said there were 4,000 to 5,000 students in the population, as of last May.
Antonio Vela, a vice-principal at San Benito High School, said the school was still waiting on proof of vaccination from at least a thousand students as of mid-July.
Hollister School District Superintendent Gary McIntire and San Benito High School Principal Krystal Lomanto did not return calls before deadline.
Families are encouraged to contact their health provider or pharmacy for the vaccination, but the clinic on Aug. 8 is being offered for those who cannot get the vaccine through other sources.
The vaccinations on Aug. 8 may be limited to the supply available and to eligibility. There will be a $10 administration fee. Parents should accompany the student and a yellow immunization card should be presented at the time of the clinic.
At a May clinic held at the high school, 100 students received the vaccination.
The state Assembly approved bill 354 last year after an outbreak of whooping cough led to the death of 10 infants in 2010. The bill requires all students in seventh through 12th grade to show proof of vaccination before they can return to school in the fall. The law goes into effect July 1.
The vaccination is a response to a large growth in whooping cough cases in the past few years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Most recent numbers show that more than 17,000 cases of whooping cough were reported throughout the country in 2009, affecting mostly infants and teens.
In San Benito County, eight cases were reported, an increase from one that was reported in 2008, county public nurse Allison Griffin said. Two cases to infants have been reported in the county this year.
For more information, call the Health Department at 637-5367.
