Hundreds of Midlands Students Lack Tdap Vaccine
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Columbia, S.C. (WOLO) — There are hundreds of Midlands 7th graders who still have not produced documentation proving they have gotten the Tdap vaccine. Health care officials say that puts everyone at risk.
“There’s no one who should be falling through the cracks here,” said board certified pediatrician and president of the South Carolina chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Dr. Deborah Greenhouse.
But, in fact, according to education officials, there are literally hundreds of Midlands middle schoolers who still have not produced necessary documentation proving they have received the Tetnus, Dyptheria, and Pertussis or whooping cough, vaccine, better known as Tdap.
“f it’s true they haven’t received the vaccine, there are still lots of children at risk for whooping cough and the community is still at risk for whooping cough,” said Greenhouse.
ABC Columbia News checked with four area Midlands school districts and learned Richland District One has more than 600 seventh graders who are not on record for having received the Tdap vaccine. In Richland District Two’s more than 2,000 seventh graders, there are a little over 500 who haven’t confirmed they have been immunized. Lexington Richland District Five’s non-compliance rate is five percent. That means out of its 1,357 seventh graders, 66 haven’t provided proof of having received the Tdap vaccine. In Lexington district One’s more than 1,800 seventh graders, all but 42 have gotten their shots.
Compliance deadlines vary depending on the district. However, state law is clear that no seventh grade student, the age group required to be immunized, who cannot “produce satisfactory evidence of having been vaccinated or immunized so often by the Department of Health and Environmental Control” should be admitted. the vaccine is covered at doctor offices, most private insurance providers and Medicaid. There is a state-funded program to assist people who are unable to afford the immunization. For more information, call 803-898-DHEC (3432).
There are medical and religious exemptions from the vaccine that exist for some students.
