More Maryland Students Are Getting Vaccinated

Pr. George's Still Leads in Noncompliance

Maryland school systems have largely avoided a repeat of January's scramble to meet a new state-mandated vaccination requirement, but more than 2,700 students in the Washington metropolitan area were barred from school last week for failing to get the necessary shots.

Most of the students are in Prince George's County, where, as of Sept. 25, 2,643 students had not received one of the necessary shots for chickenpox and hepatitis B, said Tanzi West, a county schools spokeswoman.

That figure is 300 students more than an earlier estimate given by the school system, a result of a records update, West said.

The Prince George's total appeared to dwarf those of other jurisdictions, although the closest peer of Prince George's, Montgomery County, did not provide a specific number of students who had been sent home from school.

"If we have any, it's a very small number," said Kate Harrison, a spokeswoman for the Montgomery school system.

In Anne Arundel, 148 students were out of compliance as of Sept. 21. Most of the students were concentrated in two high schools: Meade Senior and Northeast, said Bob Mosier, the county's public information officer.

Officials in Howard, Calvert and Charles counties said that all their students either had been immunized or had appointments to receive the necessary shots. A St. Mary's County spokeswoman said last week that six students there were out of compliance. Baltimore, which had major problems with getting its students in compliance last school year, did not respond to requests for information.

Maryland students were required to be vaccinated by the start of the school year but were given a grace period that expired Sept. 20. Students now must show proof that they've been vaccinated or proof that they've scheduled an appointment to receive the necessary shots.

Officials agreed that vaccinating their students was a far smoother experience this school year than when the law requiring the free shots went into effect in January.

The rule is meant to fight chickenpox and hepatitis B, which are contagious and potentially deadly. Chickenpox, an airborne virus, puts adults at greater risk of serious complications; about 100 people die from it every year in the United States. Hepatitis, which is spread through blood and other bodily fluids, can cause permanent liver damage.

Despite efforts to tell parents of the requirements, more than 6,000 students in Washington's Maryland suburbs, most from Prince George's, had not been vaccinated or had not produced vaccination records when the rule took effect. Authorities' efforts to set up vaccination appointments for the students were moderately successful, but hundreds remained without shots, and some were out of school for months.

Eventually the state passed an emergency measure to allow more than 1,000 students from Prince George's and Baltimore to return to school, despite their not having been vaccinated.