Students’ lack of routine vaccines muddies start of school

By JULIE CARR SMYTH
Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A lag in routine school immunizations is threatening a smooth start to the school year and risking children’s health. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identified a significant lag in 2020 in the standard shot regimen required for adolescent and elementary-age children long before the coronavirus pandemic. An April review found it has not been addressed. Those are not COVID-19 vaccines, but for diseases like measles and whooping cough. Families skipped or were restricted from opportunities to get their children’s shots last year. Now an overtaxed health care system is having difficulty getting them caught up.