By Ray Still
rstill@courierherald.com
Starting this fall, area high school students will be required to have two doses of chickenpox vaccine before they start classes.
This will mark the end of a nine-year Washington State Department of Health chickenpox vaccine implementation plan that started requiring kindergarten students to get their second chickenpox vaccine dose in the 2008-2009 school year.
Every year the next grade level was required to get two doses of chickenpox vaccine before starting school until the 2015-2016 school year, when seventh and eighth graders were required to get their vaccines, said DOH spokesman Dave Johnson.
Now it’s the big kids turn, and from now on, students at all grade levels must have their two doses of chickenpox vaccine before starting classes.
Johnson said it is difficult for the DOH to tell if the increase in vaccines reduces the number of Washington kids who catch chickenpox, especially with the new vaccine requirements.
“However, this requirement is based on national recommendations that take into account not only the spread of chickenpox but the increased risk of shingles (herpes zoster) for adults who had chickenpox as children,” Johnson wrote in an email interview. “So, there are long term impacts of contracting chickenpox that must be taken into account.”
Students do not have to be vaccinated if they have already had two doses of the vaccine, have had chickenpox in the past, or have had a blood test showing they are immune.
“We are strongly encouraging parents to get students of all ages into a provider’s office as soon as possible to get up to date on their required vaccines and avoid a rush before school,” Johnson concluded.
In the Kent School District, 71 percent of the 6,249 current ninth through 11th grade students have the second varicella vaccinations needed for the beginning of the 2016-2017 school year, according to district officials.
Free vaccinations
According to the DOH, parents can get free vaccines for all kids up to 19 years old through health care providers participating in the state’s Childhood Vaccine Program.
However, participating providers may charge for the office visit and an administration fee to give the vaccine.
People who can’t afford the administration fee can ask for it to be waived.
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