Maryland schools ban thousands of students without government-mandated vaccinations

Maryland schools plan to ban thousands of students from attending class over new mandatory vaccine requirements.

 

Maryland students are required to receive vaccinations for chicken pox, tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis, and meningitis and parents are required to provide proof within 20 calendar days from the start of school, but thousands of students across the state are out of compliance, the Baltimore Sun reports.

 

Next week, students without the proper immunizations will be banned from class until their parents provide proof they received the shots.

 

“… Baltimore County barred hundreds of children from school this week after failing to meet a Tuesday deadline for required vaccinations,” according to the news site.

 

For Baltimore City schools, the number of students who could miss out on class next week is in the thousands, as 3,800 were without the required vaccinations Wednesday.

 

The new requirements apply to students in kindergarten, first, second, and seventh through ninth grades based on a schedule of immunizations with different required vaccines for different grades.

 

Younger students are required to receive two doses of Varicella, to protect against chicken pox, while older students also need immunizations for tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis known as Tdap, as well as a dose of Meningococcal vaccine to guard against meningitis, according to the Sun.

 

“I cannot stress too strongly how important this is,” Baltimore city schools CEO Sonja Santelises told school board members this week.

 

Read More: Maryland schools ban thousands of students without government-mandated vaccinations | EAGnews.org