Oregon Students Have One Week To Get Shots
Portland, Oregon – Today marks one week until Exclusion Day at all Oregon schools. Any student who does not have their shots, will not be allowed in class. Immunizations have been top of mind since the recent measles outbreak. The school district has sent out letters to parents about the February 20th deadline. PPS kids can get their shots for free at ten different PPS health centers.
See the full list of immunizations required by the state.
The recent outbreak of measles serves as a reminder about immunizations, with an important deadline coming up.
Students in Portland Public Schools who have not gotten all of their required immunizations face a Wednesday, Feb. 20 deadline. That is the “exclusion date” set by the state for 2019, when any student who is not fully immunized may be barred from attending classes or district-provided child care.
Families of students whose records show missing immunizations will have received a letter from the Multnomah Education Service District last week.
Required immunizations can be fulfilled at no cost at a Multnomah County Student Health Center, seven of which are located on a PPS campus. Any student who lives in Multnomah County can utilize the services at any of the 10 Student Health Centers (three are at non-PPS schools). See the program’s website for locations, hours and phone numbers. It is recommended that you call ahead to make an appointment and to confirm that the center has the vaccines your child needs.
PPS families who need translation help with the letter and requirements can utilize the PPS Language Line at no cost at the following numbers:
- Chinese: 503-916-3585
- Russian: 503-916-3583
- Somali: 503-916-3586
- Spanish: 503-916-3582
- Vietnamese: 503-916-3584
Read more from Oregon Health Authority
Feb. 20 is School Exclusion Day, and the Oregon Immunization Program is reminding parents that children will not be able to attend school or child care starting that day if their records on file show missing immunizations.
Under state law, all children in public and private schools, preschools, Head Start and certified child care facilities must have up-to-date documentation on their immunizations, or have an exemption.
“This year’s School Exclusion Day reminder has taken on added urgency as the Pacific Northwest confronts the worst preventable measles outbreak in more than two decades,” said Stacy de Assis Matthews, school law coordinator in the Oregon Health Authority Public Health Division. “Immunizations are the most effective way to stop the spread of measles and other communicable diseases that put children and others at risk.”
If school and child care vaccination records are not up-to-date on Feb. 20, the child will be sent home. In 2018 local health departments sent 24,725 letters to parents and guardians informing them that their children needed immunizations to stay in school or child care. A total of 4,349 children were kept out of school or child care until the necessary immunization information was turned in to the schools or child care facilities. This year letters to parents were mailed on or before Feb. 6.
Parents seeking immunizations for their children should contact their health care provider or local health department, or call 211Info—just dial 211 or go to 211info.org. No one can be turned away from a local health department because of the inability to pay for required vaccines. Many pharmacists can immunize children 7 and older; contact your neighborhood pharmacy for details.
Additional information on school immunizations can be found at the Immunization Program website at http://www.healthoregon.org/
