Immunization rates going up | News, Sports, Jobs - Alpena News

ALPENA — District Health Department No. 4 saw the number of immunizations given to the public steadily increase from 2015 to 2018.

The number of immunizations increased 25%, from 1,326 in 2015 to 1,664 year, Health Department data shows. The department also issued 320 immunization waivers during that same timeframe.

Personal Health Supervisor Leah Werth said the increase was largely because of the decision to begin to accept private insurance starting in 2015. She said it’s not a requirement for health departments to give vaccines to patients with private insurance.

Additionally, DHD No. 4 Medical Director Josh Meyerson said health department officials promote immunizations and recommends that everyone older than 6 months get a flu vaccine.

The Health Department also began issuing immunization waivers in 2015, when state rules changed to require parents get those waivers at their local health department instead of being allowed to sign them at their child’s school. The new rules also require parents receive education about the benefits of vaccinations and the risks of disease from the county health department before they can obtain the waiver.

DHD No. 4 began tracking data in 2015, when it issued 57 immunization waivers. The health department subsequently issued 51 waivers in 2016, 126 in 2017, and 86 last year. Meyerson said waiver rates in area schools are between 1% and 5%, which means that more than 90% of families are choosing to get all of the recommended vaccinations.

Meyerson said the number of people receiving immunization waivers initially decreased with the change, but has crept up in the last couple of years.

“That is concerning, because, when you have pockets of unimmunized children in school or daycare, you have a focus that can lead to outbreaks, and we see that,” he said.

Meyerson, who is also with the Health Department of Northwest Michigan, said he recently worked with a school in northern Michigan that had an outbreak of chickenpox. He said the individual who was initially diagnosed with the disease and others who contracted it had not been vaccinated, although they could have been.

Meyerson said the risk of contracting a vaccine-preventable disease is not just for those who choose not to be immunized or to immunize their children. He said there’s also risk to individuals who are not able to be immunized, such as those with underlying health conditions, pregnant women or babies.

Crystal Nelson can be reached at 989-358-5687 or cnelson@thealpenanews.com.

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