The state’s new first-in-the-nation rule requiring flu vaccines for students under the age of 30 draws almost as many questions as plaudits from health and education leaders who said the initiative will help fight disease to limit, but they are not sure how it will work or be maintained.
The ordinance, announced by the Baker administration on Wednesday, requires vaccination for anyone 6 months or older in child care centers, kindergartens, K-12 schools, and colleges and universities, unless they have a religious or medical exemption, are homeschooled , or are a higher education student who lives on campus and only takes distance learning lessons.
Students are required to vaccinate at the end of the year. And Secretary of State for Health and Human Services Marylou Sudders said Thursday will be the rule permanently ahead, requiring such flu shots annually.
Officials fear that coronavirus could re-emerge in the fall as more schools and businesses reopen, and they fear that simultaneous outbreaks of flu and COVID-19 could overwhelm the state’s health care system. By giving up the vaccines for students, officials hope to reduce the burden on health workers, as fewer flu cases mean they will spend less time distinguishing between coughs and fevers or the coronavirus.
‘I would like people to understand that this is an important part of how we continue to fight [corona]virus here in Massachusetts, ”Governor Charlie Baker said Thursday at a State House news briefing. “The more people who get the flu, don’t get the flu and don’t get up in the ER.”
Under the mandate for influenza vaccination, primary and secondary students whose schools follow this fall only remotely are not exempt. About 30 percent have opted for a single remote start-up, raising questions about how such school regions can maintain the remote fax mandate.
“When you’re completely at a distance, I don’t know how you would hold students accountable,” said Tom Scott, executive director of the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents. Scott said his organization received a brief briefing from the Baker administration just before the new rules were announced, but is awaiting guidance from the state on how this will work.
This is also the Coalition for Local Public Health, whose members include local health departments, typically designated for community flu clinics, traces of contact with coronavirus, and a host of other responsibilities.
“We were told there would be enough vaccine to carry out this mission,” said Carlene Pavlos, executive director of the Massachusetts Public Health Association, a coalition member.
Massachusetts has enrolled about 1 million children in K-12 schools, according to state records. About 81 percent of those age 17 and younger received a flu shot in 2018-19 – the highest rate in the nation – according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
There are still half a million students attending colleges in Massachusetts, suggesting that the state will need thousands more doses to cover those who are now mandated to get flu shots.
“The federal government bought a ton of extra flu vaccine specifically this year because they want to see states work to improve and expand the number of people who actually shot the flu,” Baker said.
Many colleges already host annual flu clinics for faculty, staff, and students, although most students simply do not opt for a shot, said Richard Doherty, president of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities in Massachusetts.
But because state law already requires that all newly enrolled full-time college students under the age of 21 receive a meningococcal vaccine, and colleges require proof of that vaccination upon enrollment, Doherty said it would probably be fairly easy for them to apply for the annual requirement for the flu shot.
“It sounds to me like it would be a manageable assignment for schools,” he said.
But a focal anti-vaccination group has launched a petition, calling on the state Department of Health and state lawmakers to revoke the new mandate for flu vaccination. Action for Health Choice 4, which says it has more than 17,000 signatures on its petition, is planning a rally against the mandate later this month at the State House.
Although Massachusetts may inspire other states to introduce a similar requirement for flu vaccine, so far they do not seem ready to take that step.
Rhode Island, which ranks second to Massachusetts in the percentage of children vaccinated against the flu, is one of a handful of states where child care and preschoolers and staff are already required to get the shot. “Currently, we are exploring several ways we can ensure that our vaccination rates are as high as possible for older students,” said Joseph Wendelken, spokesman for the Rhode Island Department of Health. These measures include clinical flu clinics for communities and offering flu shots at COVID-19 test sites.
Av Harris, spokesman for the Connecticut Department of Public Health, said no decision had been made on a mandate for flu shots. But the state has a federal subsidy to encourage flu vaccination. “We will soon be launching a major media campaign to promote whole-flu flu vaccination in multiple languages,” he said in an email.
Kay Lazar can be reached at [email protected] Follow her on Twitter @GlobeKayLazar. Felice J. Freyer can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @felicejfreyer
