DALLAS MORNING NEWS
Parkland Health’s new mobile children’s vaccination clinic will soon be rolling out to schools in Dallas County neighborhoods with low immunization rates. Students with consent forms from their parents will be escorted from class to the vehicle so they can receive their shots.
It might not be the most enticing invitation to skip class, but it could be one of the best things to happen to a child. And it’s an initiative that should be replicated across the state. Schoolchildren in Texas are required to be vaccinated against a slew of infectious diseases, yet vaccination rates keep sinking, even as diseases we had eradicated are making a comeback.
Five years ago, during the 2017-18 school year, Texas Health and Human Services reported high rates of vaccine coverage across Texas schools. Only a small number of kindergartners and seventh graders were overdue for getting routine shots — 1% or less among kindergartners and about 2.3% or less among seventh graders. A separate group of children had families that cited “conscientious exemptions,” but those numbers stayed around 1.5%.
If we take a look at the latest data available, the numbers look a lot worse. In the 2021-22 school year, more than 3% of kindergartners were overdue to get tetanus, measles, polio and chickenpox vaccines. Meanwhile, almost 6% of seventh graders were delinquent on getting their tetanus shots, and about the same number failed to get a vaccine that would protect them against meningitis. Conscientious exemptions also rose.
A mobile vaccine clinic can’t fix the problem of vaccine hesitancy, but it can make a difference for families whose children haven’t been vaccinated for other reasons. Texas has the highest uninsured rate in the country, and that rate is even worse in Dallas County, where more than a fifth of residents are uninsured. That means some families are skipping wellness checks and routine vaccinations for their children, according to Parkland.
In Dallas ISD, where 4 in 5 students are economically disadvantaged, the vaccination rates among kindergartners for tetanus, measles, polio and chickenpox fell under 90% in the 2021-22 school year. The Parkland initiative could well move the needle in our city.
We know it works. Parkland’s COVID-19 vaccination events at community sites, including schools, were well received. One event we attended in 2021 at David G. Burnet Elementary School in northwest Dallas inoculated about 450 people who lined up outdoors. Many of the attendees told us they lived nearby and that the event was convenient.
The mobile clinic will vaccinate kids during the school day, saving parents from having to take time off of work. Vaccination events can also last up to six hours because the vehicle has a medical-grade refrigerator and freezer to store the shots.
Parkland’s vaccine clinic on wheels was funded with federal dollars thanks to the efforts of the now-retired U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Dallas. We hope other cities in Texas will borrow a page from Dallas so we can reverse the trend and increase vaccine coverage in schools.