Office of Communications

For Release: August 29, 2019 - Jamie Dukes, Office of Communications (405) 271-5601

The Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH) is releasing the results of an annual survey conducted throughout the state to assess vaccination coverage and exemption status of children enrolled in public and private kindergarten programs. The survey measures the amount of students who are up to date for the six vaccines required for children to be enrolled in school.

In effort to improve transparency to the public, OSDH officials have used geographic mapping technology to create an interactive online search tool for the public to view results by county, or by individual school. This is the first time for OSDH to release the information in such a format where the public can see results of the survey through a map to observe trends across the state.

Each school’s listing provides the percentage of kindergarten students who were up to date on each individual vaccine for polio, varicella, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DTaP); and measles, mumps and rubella (MMR). Results indicate the DTaP and MMR vaccines have the lowest current coverage.

While school participation in the survey was voluntary, a high rate of participation was achieved assessing the immunization status of approximately 92% of Oklahoma’s kindergarteners during the 2018-19 school year. The survey also collected the percentage of students who claimed exemptions from receiving the required vaccinations.

 “Analysis of this data drives program activities to improve vaccination coverage in our state,” said Interim Commissioner of Health Tom Bates. “We appreciate the support from the Oklahoma State Department of Education and the local school officials who contributed to such an important project. We know that vaccinations are among the most effective ways to protect against serious diseases.”

Overall, the study indicates the number of kindergarten students up to date on all vaccines increased by 1% from 90.4% in 2017-18, to 91.4% in 2018-19. Up to date rates for MMR, Hep B, and Hep A all increased when compared to last year while DTaP and Varicella rates decreased. The number of students with record of exemption for any vaccination increased by 0.2% from 2.4% in 2017-18, to 2.6% in 2018-19. The majority of these exemptions were approved for non-medical reasons such as personal or religious reasons.

Responses from schools represented 94% of students enrolled in public kindergarten programs and 51% in private school programs.

To view the recommended immunization schedule, visit https://go.usa.gov/xVC9k or contact the OSDH Immunization Service at (405) 271-4073.

The online interactive mapping tool presents results from the Kindergarten Immunization Survey in the screenshot above.  

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