After nearly 30 years focused on protecting Colorado’s children from the dangers of vaccine-preventable diseases, the Colorado Children’s Immunization Coalition (CCIC) is changing our name and expanding our mission to strengthen and solidify our commitment to protecting Coloradans of all ages, not just children and adolescents, from vaccine-preventable diseases!
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Colorado consistently outperforms other states when it comes to health measures; Colorado’s immunization rates, sadly, are an exception.
Summer has flown by, and it is nearly time for kids to say goodbye to summer break and hello to the new school year. As you soak up the last few moments of summer with your kids and work to complete those last-minute back-to-school checklist items—like buying school supplies, creating a family calendar or turning in registration forms—don’t forget to check immunizations off your list!
Ensuring your child receives school-required and other recommended vaccines will help to bolster their immune system, keep them (and the community) healthy, and set them up for success as they enter the new school year.
With so much to do before the summer ends, this time of year can feel chaotic. Luckily, there are many resources that make it easy to check vaccines off your list and create a smooth transition back to school for your family.
Why are vaccines important for kids in school and child care?
Vaccines are your child’s best defense against harmful, potentially deadly diseases. Diseases, like measles and whooping cough, can spread very easily in school settings. To protect other students and school staff, especially those who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons, every child who can be vaccinated should be. This is called community immunity, and when enough people are vaccinated, it provides a shield against contagious disease.
Out of all the states in the U.S., Colorado currently has the lowest kindergarten immunization rate for the Measles-Mumps-Rubella (MMR) vaccine at 87.4%. This rate is much lower than the 95% level necessary for community protection. This leaves our communities vulnerable to an outbreak. With well over 1,000 measles cases reported across 30 states in 2019, it’s not unlikely that an outbreak could make its way to Colorado.
To learn more about vaccines and how they work to protect communities from vaccine-preventable disease, visit SpreadTheVaxFacts.com.
Which vaccines are needed for school entry?
To see which vaccines your child might need depending on their age, head to the state health department’s webpage on school-required vaccines. To learn more about other recommended vaccines like the flu shot and the HPV vaccine, visit the CDC’s vaccine website for parents. In Colorado, you can visit COVaxRecords.org to request your child’s vaccination records and see which vaccines your child might be missing. You should also consult your child’s healthcare provider to determine which vaccines your child needs.
Where can I get vaccines for my child?
If your child has a family physician they see regularly, this physician can provide vaccines for your child, as well as other important health and developmental screenings and tests. In addition, local public health departments often offer weekend vaccination clinics. In the Denver-Metro area, the Shots for Tots and Teens program offers low-cost vaccines for both insured and underinsured children and adults at their Saturday immunization clinics hosted at Aurora Fire Station #2 in Aurora. You can visit COVax4Kids.org to determine if your child is eligible for low- or no-cost vaccines and to locate providers who offer them.
The state health department also provides a full list of locations that offer vaccines.
How can I see the immunization rates at my child’s school?
Parents and the public can view vaccination and exemption data for their child’s school or child care facility at COVaxRates.org to see how protected it is from outbreaks of preventable disease.
You can also view your school district’s immunization and exemption coverage and an overview of statewide Colorado vaccine and vaccine-preventable disease information using fact sheets and dashboards created by the Colorado Children’s Immunization Coalition, which are available at COSchoolIZ.org.
Other helpful immunization resources for parents and families:
On behalf of the Colorado Children’s Immunization Coalition, we wish your family a healthy and happy 2019-2020 school year!
An Interview with Heather Roth, Deputy Immunization Branch Chief at the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment
Immunization information systems (IIS), also 
referred to as immunization registries, are confidential, population-based, computerized databases that collect vaccination data within a geographic area. They are a confidential, secure, and centralized way for authorized users (i.e. healthcare providers, public health officials, schools) to enter immunization data, access immunization records for patients, identify missed immunizations, monitor gaps in immunization coverage important for outbreak response and targeting interventions, and to ultimately improve vaccination rates.
Measles outbreaks are popping up across the United States. From January 1 to March 7, 2019, 228** individual cases of measles have been confirmed in 12 states: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Texas, and Washington. Six outbreaks (defined as 3 or more linked cases) have been reported, in Rockland County, New York; New York City, New York; Washington; Texas; California and Illinois.
Guest post by Mary Ann Martin
As National Cancer Prevention Month draws to a close, Mary Ann Martin shares the story of her husband’s battle with HPV-associated anal cancer and explains why she advocates for the vaccine that can prevent the cancer that took her husband’s life.
While Colorado consistently appears in national news as one of the nation’s top health performers in a variety of measures, childhood immunization rates across the state tell a different story.
Colorado native Tracy Jimenez was diagnosed with cervical cancer just four days after her 46th birthday on October 26, 2016. A single mother of three, grandmother to five, and surrogate mother to a 24-year-old nephew with cerebral palsy, Tracy had her hands more than full. Her busy life and endless responsibilities made her life-altering cancer diagnosis even more terrifying. In an interview with the Colorado Children’s Immunization Coalition, Tracy explains how cervical cancer caused by a human papillomavirus (HPV) infection impacted her life, and how it’s driven her to speak up for the vaccine that has the power to prevent cervical and other kinds of cancer: the HPV vaccine.
“I miss her. I wish she were here.”
On December 1, 2003, Vira Cover experienced what no parent should have to: the death of a child.
Just a week earlier, on Thanksgiving Day, Vira’s 23-month-old daughter, Elizabeth Terese Cover, caught the H1N1 strain of influenza and developed bilateral pneumonia. During the 2003-2004 flu season, 152 children in the U.S. died from flu. Elizabeth was one of them.
Vira shared her and Elizabeth’s story in an interview with the Colorado Children’s Immunization Coalition.
Vaccines aren’t just for children; adults also need certain vaccines to help protect them from preventable disease over the lifespan. During the adult immunization week of National Immunization Awareness Month (NIAM), Rosemary Spence, RN, MA, shares insight into how providers can ensure their adult patients are adequately immunized.