Oregon non medical vaccine exemptions at record high

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Despite a 2013 law aimed at boosting immunization rates, the statewide rate for nonmedical exemptions to mandatory kindergarten vaccinations hit a record high this school year, according to the Oregon Health Authority.

The nonmedical exemption rate rose to 7.5 percent this year, higher than the 7 percent rate during the 2013-2014 school year when the law was passed to address declining vaccination rates among the state's nearly 700,000 schoolchildren.

The 2013 law — which required parents to jump through more hoops to obtain a nonmedical exemption – initially decreased the nonmedical exemption rate from 7 percent to 5.8 percent in 2015. But the following year, the rate began to climb again, first to 6.2 percent in 2016, then to 6.5 percent in 2017 and finally, to 7.5 percent this year.

Nonmedical exemption rates for students in grades K-12 this year ranged from a low of 1 percent in Morrow County to a high of 10 percent in Josephine County.

But the decline in vaccinations has coincided with outbreaks of vaccine-preventable disease. More than a dozen students in Lane County, including two at the University of Oregon in Eugene, contracted whooping cough earlier this spring, according to media reports. In December, about a dozen cases of the disease were reported at schools in Clark County, Washington, across the Columbia River from Portland.

The Oregon law requires parents who seek a nonmedical exemption to receive education about the risks of foregoing immunization from one of two sources. They can opt to submit documentation that they have watched an educational video on the health authority's website or have consulted with a healthcare provider. About 95 percent of parents choose to provide documentation of watching the online video, de Assis Matthews said.

Parents are not required to give a reason for their objection to immunizations.