At the beginning of the school year, more than 1,000 San Benito
High School students returned without proof of the tdap
vaccination. A state law passed last winter required that students
in grades seventh through 12th have the whooping cough vaccination
before the start of school, but Gov. Brown approved an extension
this summer that gave students until 30 days after the start of
school to show proof of the vaccine.
At the beginning of the school year, more than 1,000 San Benito High School students returned without proof of the tdap vaccination.
A state law passed last winter required that students in grades seventh through 12th have the whooping cough vaccination before the start of school, but Gov. Brown approved an extension this summer that gave students until 30 days after the start of school to show proof of the vaccine.
“We worked with the (San Benito County Public) Health department to put on clinics,” said Antonio Vela, an assistant principal at San Benito High School. “We put two on at the high school and communicated with families about one offered at Ladd Lane. We sent out autodialer calls. We posted notifications online and we made personal phone calls to families.”
San Benito reached the 30-day mark today and had whittled the number of students without evidence of the vaccination down to 85 students as of Thursday morning. Assistant Principal Antonio Vela said that by 10 a.m., they had already received proof that 35 of students had been vaccinated.
“In general, the community has been overwhelming responsive,” Vela said. “We do have some students who still need proof, but we’ve gone from not having it to they have gotten it, but we don’t have the evidence.”
Some of the students who were pulled from class for not having turned in evidence of the vaccination where able to have family members fax in proof, drop it off or they were able to check the state registry.
“Some said the family had not gotten it (the vaccination) yet so we made arrangements for them to be picked up,” Vela said.
Vela said that school officials tried to be discreet about removing students from classes, but that they had to pull students out of class due to the state law.
“There was no avoiding that particular aspect,” he said.
He said teachers were notified that some students would need to be removed, and campus supervisors escorted the students from their classes to the office.
Vela added that some of the students without proof of vaccination were not in class.
He noted that many of the local pharmacies made the vaccination available and the health department provided information to the schools to share with families, making the process of vaccinating a large student body go well.
“There has been a very impressive response from the community,” Vela said.
Rancho San Justo Middle School Principal Barbara Nakasone and Marguerite Maze Middle School Principal Cindy Cordova were not immediately available for comment on the tdap 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.
See more later, including information on the Hollister district.
