The deadline for new vaccine requirements for Maryland schoolchildren may be postponed, health officials confirmed to the News4 I-Team on Friday afternoon.
According to the new requirements announced this year, ALL 7th-grade students must have a Tdap (Tetanus-diphtheria-attenuated pertussis) vaccination and a meningococcal (MCV4) vaccination.
The deadline for getting those shots was Friday in most Maryland districts, including Montgomery County, meaning that without an extension, students who hadn't gotten the shots would be kept out of school Monday.
Officials with the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene tell the News4 I-Team that they're considering whether to grant a short-term extension to Maryland's schools on the new requirements.
"We are working with our attorney general and with the State Board of Education to facilitate this. Adults should see to it that their children get the required immunizations as soon as possible," officials said.
As of Friday morning in Montgomery County, 1,400 out of the school district's 11,076 students still hadn't gotten their vaccines. That's down from the 2,000 to 3,000 students who hadn't gotten them three days earlier.
In Frederick County, more than 500 7th graders, out of 3,013, hadn't yet complied with the immunization requirement by Friday morning.
Montgomery County Health Officer Dr. Ulder Tillman said the vaccines are for everyone's health and safety. A recent outbreak of whooping cough proves the booster shot is necessary.
Free immunization clinics offered the shots three evenings this past week at several Montgomery County middle schools. On Friday, Mary Anderson, a spokesperson for the Montgomery County health department said the county will continue immunization clinics next week.
Maryland State Department of Education spokesperson Bill Reinhard said his agency is awaiting more guidance from state health officials before commenting on the possible delay of the deadline.
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