Tuesday was the official deadline for Maryland students to get vaccinated against hepatitis and chickenpox, but only a few hundred students around the Baltimore region were sent home. Many schools offered grace periods to prevent up to 22,000 students from being suspended.
Students through ninth grade now must show proof of vaccination for hepatitis B and chickenpox, or doctor?s proof they already had chickenpox. Students who did not comply by Jan. 2 would not be allowed to return to school under the law.
“These are fairly severe diseases, and there are readily available and affordable vaccines for them,” said Maryland State Department of Education spokesman Bill Reinhard.
Most school systems in the state, including Baltimore, Harford and Howard counties, are allowing a 20-day grace period, Reinhard said, extending the deadline to Jan. 19 or later.
Anne Arundel and Carroll County schools did not, though fewer than 100 students in Carroll did not comply, said Carroll spokeswoman Brenda Bowers.
Anne Arundel had 993 students without vaccinations, spokesman Tony Ruffin said, though not all were sent home. About 100 students went to the county Health Department for free vaccinations.
Baltimore City school officials could not be reached for comment, but told The Examiner nearly 12,000 students needed vaccinations in late November.
Kara Calder of Baltimore County Schools said about 3,000 students remained unvaccinated, down from 18,000 earlier.
Howard County had almost 1,700 students as of December who still needed vaccinations, said spokeswoman Patti Caplan.
Harford County had 8,000 unvaccinated students in September, down to 4,000 prior to the holiday break.
“We?re not sure how much we whittled into that,” said Harford schools spokesman Don Morrison. “Over the holidays, we hoped that parents would have had the time and opportunity to make appointments and get their children vaccinated.”
Baltimore and Harford counties made automated phone calls to notify parents of students who needed vaccinations.
“We really need parents? cooperation to get this done,” Calder said.
Examiner Staff Writers Jaime Malarkey, Megan McIlroy and Laura Greenback contributed to this article.
Free Vaccinations
For links to free vaccination clinics, visit these Web sites:
Anne Arundel: aahealth.org
Baltimore County: www.bcps.org
Harford: www.hcps.org
Howard: www.co.ho.md.us/Health/HealthMain/Health_HomePage.htm
