Statewide Immunizations and Exemption Rates by School Year, Grade, Vaccine, and School Type

The annual pre-kindergarten (pre-K) through 12th grade school immunization survey collects school-level, grade-specific data on vaccine coverage and exemptions. The survey collects vaccination and exemption status data on children who entered the school system on or before a specified date during the fall semester. Individual vaccine information on each student is not collected.

This table shows the statewide vaccination exemptions (medical and religious) and percentage vaccinated and compliant for each school-entry mandated vaccine series reported by school year, grade, and school type. Percentage of students vaccinated is the number of students with the required number of doses of a given vaccine divided by the total number of students. Data for each grade includes all schools who reported with that given grade level.

School-mandated vaccine series for students enrolled in kindergarten are inactivated polio, DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus, and acellular pertussis), MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella), hepatitis B, varicella and hepatitis A. Additional mandated vaccines for students enrolled in 7th grade include meningococcal conjugate vaccine (MCV) and Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria, and acellular pertussis). Influenza vaccine is a requirement for pre-K students only, who are 24 through 59 months of age.

Each child has 1 of 4 possible vaccination statutes: Vaccinated, Exempt (Religious), Exempt (Medical) or Non-compliant. The criteria shown below are used to assess whether a child is considered vaccinated.

• Flu = at least 1 dose of annual influenza vaccine (pre-K only). This is a school entry requirement only for pre-K students 24 through 59 months of age.
• Polio = at least 3 doses of inactivated polio vaccine, with the last dose on or after their 4th birthday. This is a school entry requirement starting in kindergarten.
• DTaP = at least 4 doses of DTaP vaccine, with the last dose on or after their 4th birthday. This is a school entry requirement starting in kindergarten.
• MMR = at least 2 doses of MMR vaccine separated by at least 28 days, with the 1st dose on or after their 1st birthday. This is a school entry requirement starting in kindergarten.
• HepB = at least 3 doses of hepatitis B vaccine, with the last dose on or after 24 weeks of age. This is a school entry requirement starting in kindergarten.
• Varicella = at least 2 doses of varicella vaccine separated by at least 28 days, with the 1st dose on or after their 1st birthday, or a reliable history of chickenpox disease. This is a school entry requirement starting in kindergarten.
• HepA = at least 2 doses of hepatitis A vaccine, given a minimum of six calendar months apart, with the 1st dose on or after their 1st birthday. This is a school entry requirement starting in kindergarten. Starting with the 2019-2020 school year the annual survey included data collection on hepatitis A vaccine for 7th grade students.
• MCV = at least 1 dose of meningococcal conjugate vaccine. This is a school entry requirement starting in 7th grade.
• Tdap = at least 1 dose of Tdap vaccine. This is a school entry requirement starting in 7th grade.
• All = Percentage of students with all above vaccine series required for that grade level.

Children without a record of vaccination, but with serologic proof of immunity to certain diseases (measles, mumps, rubella, hepatitis B, hepatitis A, and varicella), meet school entry requirements and may be counted as vaccinated.

Data Limitations and Considerations:
• The school level data shown here are as tabulated and reported by schools and discrepancies may exist.
• The Immunization Program identifies outliers and internally inconsistent data points and works with schools to resolve any data quality issues, when possible.
• CT DPH cannot verify the accuracy of vaccine data for individual children or whether the documentation necessary to claim an exemption has been submitted.
• Data are collected at the beginning of the school year, by which time vac

Tags: ct-dph, immunizations, school-survey, vaccine-exemptions
Organization: State of Connecticut