Children Pack Clinics for Shots Needed to Enroll at Schools

The line for free shots begins forming each weekday before dawn.

By the time the Orange County Health Care Agency’s Santa Ana clinic opens at 7:45 a.m., more than 100 parents, their youngsters in tow, await immunization shots that are required before the children can begin school.

“It’s a six-hour wait now,” said nursing supervisor Barbara Mortley. “Last week we were administering about 500 vaccinations a day; we haven’t had time to count this week. It’s way up, and it’s going to get worse.”

The rush of parents seeking free immunization shots for their children has broken records throughout the week at Orange County’s busiest child health clinic. Workers there, accustomed to the annual back-to-school rush, have been swamped by frantic parents because the state has eliminated a two-week grace period after the start of classes for proof of protection against polio, diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, measles, rubella and mumps.

Need Immunization Proof

“Schools refuse to admit the children without proof of immunization, and parents wait until the eleventh hour,” Mortley said. “Then they come here.”

More than 90,000 vaccinations were administered in 1988 at the Santa Ana clinic at 1725 W. 17th St. At a current rate of 12,000 to 15,000 shots a month, the number will top 120,000 this year, according to Dr. Gerald Wagner, medical director of the immunization program. A total of 200,000 free vaccinations will be dispensed this year at the Santa Ana medical center, the Buena Park clinic, the Westminster clinic and 14 floating community clinics.

“The vast majority of the patients we see have no regular source of medical care,” Wagner said. “Some may be starting school without ever having seen a doctor before. Our only criteria is a medical need for a shot. There is no income screening.”

The vaccinations are critical because they protect against potentially fatal diseases for which there is no effective treatment. And, as a measles epidemic sweeps California and the nation, school officials and health-care providers are more vigilant than ever.

Cases Double This Year

Nearly 300 measles cases were reported to the Orange County Health Care Agency in the first six months of this year, more than double last year’s reports of 109 cases. In 1987, just 12 measles cases were reported in the county. Although there have been no reported measles deaths in Orange County this year, eight fatalities have been recorded in Los Angeles County. The outbreak has also prompted officials to urge vaccinations for all children before they reach their first birthdays.

“We have a simple policy: ‘No immunization, no school,’ ” said Meliton Lopez, superintendent of the Anaheim City School District. “We’re strict. We tell parents we won’t even register their children if they don’t have proof of immunization.”

The California Health Services Department “is using the schools as a way to force students to get immunized,” Lopez said. “It is a hammer over the head of every parent.”

That was the stick that brought Sandra Moreno to the Santa Ana clinic with her 16-year-old sister-in-law, a recent immigrant from Mexico. The sister-in-law, Griselda Moreno, plans to begin classes at Garden Grove High School next week.

Long Waits

“There was a waiting list for my private doctor,” Sandra Moreno said as she waited near the end of a line that stretched 75 feet down the hall. “So we came here yesterday and waited for 4 1/2 hours before the clinic closed and we had to go home. We’ve been here for an hour and a half already, and we have to get in today.”

Vivian Lang of Irvine inched forward with her daughter, Tasia, 5, who will begin kindergarten next week. Still 15 feet from admission to the 75-seat waiting room, Lang steeled herself against the surrounding squall of babies and the agitated play of bored youngsters.

“I put the shots off until the last minute, and I knew this was going to happen,” said Lang, who recently moved from Pasadena. “We can get through this OK as long as Tasia doesn’t see any needles. I’m here to distract her.”

REQUIRED SHOTS

The state of California requires up-to-date immunizations for the following diseases to enter public or private elementary and high schools as well as day-care centers:

DTP (Diphtheria, Tetanus and Pertussis, known as whooping cough)

Polio

Measles (Required for those over 15 months old)

Rubella or German measles (Required for those over 15 months old)

Mumps (Required for children 15 months through 6 years old and recommended for children 7 and over)