SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS Radio) -- As the nation deals with its biggest measles outbreak since the disease was declared "eliminated" in 2000, data from the California Department of Public Health show thousands of schoolchildren entered kindergarten in recent years without proof of receiving the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine).
The state requires all schools--public and private--to submit reports showing the percentage of incoming kindergarten students with records showing they've received five different childhood vaccines, including MMR (measles, mumps, rubella).
A KCBS Radio review of the state database (available here) shows a number of schools with vaccination rates below 80-percent, and a few below 50-percent. Some were even lower than that in figures for the 2017-2018 school year--the most recent year for which data are available. Public health officials often speak of a 95-percent vaccination rate as the standard for so-called "herd immunity".
Many of the lowest vaccination rates were at private or charter schools, like the Berkeley Rose Waldorf School which showed only 29 percent of its kindergarten students had received the measles vaccine. The Ocean Grove Charter School in Saratoga showed a 48 percent vaccination rate.
Sonoma County appeared to have more schools in the Bay Area that were identified by health officials with a red flag for "most vulnerable," because the kindergarten classes had fewer than 80 percent of students with vaccinations. Only 42 percent of the 2017 kindergartners were inoculated at Sebastopol Independent Charter while Sundridge Charter, also in Sebastopol, had a 47 percent rate. The Summerfield Waldorf in Santa Rosa was among the lowest with half of its students having records of the shots.
In San Francisco, the Golden Bridges School made the list with 71 percent of students vaccinated and Sanchez Elementary showed up with 78 percent covered.
In Walnut Creek, the Singing Stones School reported a level of 67 percent who'd been immunized.
Among the worst rates in Marin County, were the New Village School in Sausalito with 62 percent protected while the Marin Waldorf school said 64 percent of kids had the shots.
There appeared to be no schools in Napa, San Mateo and Solano counties that fell below the state's 80-percent threshold.
State health officials say the numbers represent information filed as of the close of reporting in the fall of the school year. They also say student status may change during the school year.