PORT ANGELES — Compared to the state average, Clallam and Jefferson counties have higher percentages of parents who opt out of having their children vaccinated, said Lisa McKenzie, communicable disease program coordinator for Jefferson County Public Health.
For the 2003-04 school year, for example, 4.3 percent — 345 out of 7,974 students — in Clallam County went without some or all of their required immunizations.
And Jefferson County had the second highest exemption rate in the state, with 11.3 percent of students — 375 out of 3,331 — not having the minimum dose requirements thanks mostly to parental waivers, McKenzie said.
Statewide, 3.9 percent of parents chose the exemption option.
Parents in Washington state may skip one or all of the myriad vaccination requirements for their children entering school, said Ann Johnson, a nurse at Clallam County Health Department.
The exemption process is simple.
All a parent has to do is sign a form citing personal or religious reasons for not wanting to have their children vaccinated, or may present a note from a doctor addressing medical reasons for avoiding one or all of the required vaccine doses.
