Areas with higher exemption rates may be more susceptible to disease outbreaks because these students are not fully protected. There are pockets of higher exemption rates in the western and southeast parts of the state, particularly the Cape and Islands. However, most exemptions claimed in Massachusetts are religious exemptions. Exemptions presented here are medical and religious exemptions combined. Rates of students with an exemption to one or more vaccines are captured in the annual immunization survey of kindergartens (and seventh grades/childcare/college). Religious exemptions come from the parent/guardian, and state in writing that a vaccine conflicts with his/her sincerely held religious belief. Medical exemptions come from the student’s doctor and document a contraindication - the reason why an individual cannot medically receive the vaccine. Massachusetts students must provide documentation of immunization, according to school requirements, or show a medical or religious exemption. These data also show the importance of maintaining high immunization rates. Since immunization rates are not uniform across the state, school immunization data highlight areas that may be more susceptible to vaccine-preventable diseases. School immunization rates provide insight into the vaccine coverage in communities across the state. Students in kindergarten through 12th grade are required to be immunized with DTaP/Tdap, polio, MMR, Hepatitis B, and Varicella vaccines. For questions about the Every Student Succeeds Act, please contact the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), at (781) 338-3700 or immunity and importance of vaccines The student must be enrolled and permitted to attend public school in the interim. The federal Every Student Succeeds Act (which makes the McKinney-Vento Act more comprehensive) states that if a homeless or foster care child or youth arrives lacking immunizations or medical records, the parent/guardian should be referred to the district's Homeless Education Liaison/foster care point of contact, who has the responsibility to obtain relevant academic records and immunizations or medical records and to ensure that homeless/foster care students are attending school while the records are obtained.
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