Study: Charter school students are vaccinated less
Dec 13, 2012, 3:20 PM | Updated: Dec 18, 2012, 1:52 pm
Arizona charter school kindergartners are being vaccinated at lower rates than those in public schools, a University of Arizona study said.
The vaccination exemption rates have tripled in kindergartners in the past decade and charter schools are leading the way.
“The vaccine exemption rate ranged from zero percent to 68 percent,” said associate professor Elizabeth Jacobs, who co-wrote the study. “The reason that’s cause for concern is because to reach community immunity levels, you want to have coverage of about 95 percent.”
Jacobs said she hopes her study informs parents as to whether or not they should vaccinate their child.
Jacobs said most schools with high exemption rates tend to be white and middle- to upper-class.
Arizona ranks among the top five states in America for the total number of charter schools.
