Home Schools Greenport Union Free School District Students need meningococcal vaccine before Sept. 1 under new state mandate

Students need meningococcal vaccine before Sept. 1 under new state mandate

Parents: There’s just two weeks left to get your student the vaccinations they need before school starts, and this year New York State has added a new requirement.

Children entering 7th and 12th grades are now required by New York State to have received the meningococcal vaccine, which has been on the list of vaccinations recommended to school-age children for a decade. The vaccine protects against meningococcal diseases, such as bacterial meningitis, that teens and young adults are at a higher risk for.

Vaccination requirements have caused nationwide controversy, recently making an appearance in headlines when more than 100 students in Sacramento were turned away on the first day of school for not having up-to-date vaccination records.

California passed a law banning students from attending school unless their vaccination records are up-to-date with inoculations against 10 designated diseases. It is only the third state to require vaccinations with no exemptions for “religious beliefs.”

New York accepts exemptions on religious grounds — however, if there is an outbreak of a vaccine-preventable disease in a school, the district can send a non-vaccinated student home for up to three weeks. Bishop McGann-Mercy High School does not accept exemptions on religious grounds.

School districts on the North Fork haven’t had any such outbreaks, and have had very few issues with getting students immunized, says Greenport and Southold Union Free School Districts Superintendent David Gamberg.

“It’s certainly a sensitive issue, with some people having personal concerns and others having overall health concerns,” Gamberg said. “The reality here is that we haven’t seen or received anything from families in large numbers. There are some exceptions.”

Gamberg says the schools do their “due diligence” in letting families know the requirements.

“We do everything we can, particularly at the elementary level, to make sure there is a connection between us and families,” Gamberg said. “We don’t just send letters, we make phone calls and try to get as close to a face-to-face meetings as we can get to make sure people are comfortable and understand what’s required of them, and we’ve been doing that since before this became a nationwide issue.”

“Over the years, vaccines have eradicated smallpox, eliminated poliovirus in the United States and significantly reduced the number of reported cases of measles diphtheria, and rubella,” said Commissioner of Health Services Dr. James Tomarken “But not everyone is up to date on their immunizations. Immunization schedules change periodically, so we ask that everyone—adults, pregnant women, and parents of older children– to speak with their healthcare providers to find out what immunizations are recommended for them.”

Students are required to get a first dose of the meningococcal vaccine before entering 7th grade and to receive a booster shot before beginning 12th grade (unless their first dose was on or after the student’s 16th birthday).

Click here for a full list of New York State immunization requirements.

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Courtney Blasl
Courtney is a freelance photographer, videographer, web designer and writer. She is a lifelong Riverhead resident.