Coalition Launches Free Immunization Drive

Saying children in Los Angeles County have one of the lowest vaccination rates in the nation, a business coalition this week launched what it described as the largest private sector immunization drive ever undertaken in California.

The group said it hopes to boost the county’s 40% vaccination rate--the worst among California’s most populous counties--by sponsoring more than 250 free clinics in the San Fernando Valley. The program will be expanded countywide next year.

The move was applauded by county health officials still haunted by a measles epidemic that killed 40 children and hospitalized another 2,700 between 1987 and 1991. Some children’s health experts predict that another outbreak will strike in a year or two.

For 2-year-olds who are fully immunized against measles, polio, mumps, rubella and other childhood diseases, Los Angeles County’s vaccination rate is significantly below both the statewide and the national rates--48.5% and 55.3% respectively.

Health authorities blame the county’s poor ranking on several factors, including its large population of toddlers, many immigrant parents who do not understand English, insufficient public health clinics and soaring vaccine prices.

Also, experts say, many parents in their 30s and 40s--who had to wince their way through a few shots when they were young--are unaware of how many shots must be administered these days for complete immunization. A number of the vaccines used today did not exist before 1960.

“Parents have this image of kids lining up at school for polio shots. They don’t realize it takes 16 to 18 doses of vaccine,” said Joseph Liu, director of policy for Children Now, an advocacy group. “It’s a lot more complicated than people remember.”

Immunization rates are particularly low among the county’s poor, who often cannot afford to take time off from work for repeated visits to the doctor or cannot reach public clinics for free shots. And many illegal immigrants, fearing that they will be identified, are wary of taking their children to government clinics at all, experts say.

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In addition, the cost of full vaccination has skyrocketed in recent years. Shots that cost less than $11 in the mid-1970s now are priced at more than $235, not including any charges to administer them, according to the Children’s Defense Fund.

Backers of the private inoculation effort said they are not trying to take over for the county health department, but want to supplement its efforts.

“The county has done a fantastic job trying to reach these people, but they just don’t have the resources,” said Greg Waskul, a spokesman for Burbank-based UniHealth America, which operates hospitals in the Valley and is spearheading the drive, called Operation Immunization.

To kick off the effort, nurses gave free shots at a Northridge elementary school earlier this week, trying to stick needles as gently as possible into small children who promptly began screaming.

“I took Tylenol even before I came over,” said Judee Stelly, a nurse who normally works in the emergency room at nearby Northridge Hospital Medical Center.

Jess Ross of La Crescenta said he came to the school to take advantage of the free injections for his 20-month-old daughter, Mychelle.

“They run about $160 when you go to a private clinic,” he said, adding that he has no health insurance.

Waskul said Operation Immunization will hold more than 250 clinics in the Valley over the next six months at elementary schools, McDonald’s restaurants and the Volunteer Center in Van Nuys. Vaccines will be provided by the county.

In addition, the organization plans a massive education campaign to inform parents of the potentially fatal consequences of not vaccinating their children. It hopes to enlist hundreds of local businesses, churches, synagogues and community groups to help disseminate brochures and sponsor lectures.

An ongoing education campaign is crucial because even if parents make sure their children get shots today, the next generation of parents must do the same for their children, Waskul said.

“Our purpose is to inoculate the minds of parents,” he said.

Waskul said Operation Immunization has signed a contract with the Los Angeles Unified School District to run weekly clinics at seven schools and to eventually expand throughout the district.

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He said many immigrants seem ingly are less wary of schools than of government health clinics, and most can easily walk their children to a neighborhood school.

Dr. Shirley Fannin, the county’s chief of communicable disease control, said the government was happy to get help from private business.

She said the county’s low vaccination rate is partly attributable to its thorough reporting, but conceded that it ranks poorly compared to other large urban areas.

On a statewide level, 48.5% of 2-year-olds are fully inoculated, but the rate varies considerably among ethnic groups.

Whites have the highest rate--58%--followed closely by Asians at 56%, according to the California Department of Health Services. Forty-four percent of African Americans and 37% of Latinos are fully immunized, but only 22% of Southeast Asians are.

Waskul said a poor vaccination record should not be viewed as a problem only of low-income people and minorities, however. It cuts across all races and economic classes, he said, and some countries have a far higher rate than California. Mexico, for instance, vaccinates 96% of its 2-year-olds, he said.

Liu of Children Now said that because so few toddlers are properly vaccinated, and because measles often runs on a three- or four-year cycle, many health experts expect a resurgence in the next year or two.

Vaccination Schedule

The following table shows the immunization schedule recommended for children by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It shows all the vaccinations that a child should receive from birth to age 16.

Vaccine: DTP

2 Months: DTP

4 Months: DTP

6 Months: DTP

15 Months: DTP (b)

4-6 Years: DTP

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Vaccine: Polio

2 Months: Polio

4 Months: Polio

6 Months: Polio (c)

4-6 Years: Polio

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Vaccine: Measles, mumps and rubella (MMR)

12-15 Months: MMR

4-6 Years: MMR (d)

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Vaccine: Meningitis

2 Months: Meningitis

4 Months: Meningitis

6 Months: Meningitis (e)

12-15 Months: Meningitis

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Vaccine: Tetanus

14-16 Years (a): Tetanus

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Vaccine: Hepatitis B

Birth: Hepatitis B

1-2 Months: Hepatitis B

6-18 Months: Hepatitis B

Or

1-2 Months: Hepatitis B

4 Months: Hepatitis B

6-18 Months: Hepatitis B

(a): And every 10 years thereafter.

(b): This dose of DTP can be given as early as 12 months, at the same visit as measles,mumps and rubella and meningitis vaccines, as long as it has been at least six months since the previous DTP dose. Some experts recommend this dose at 18 months.

(c): Some experts recommend this dose between 6 and 18 months.

(d): Some experts prefer to give this dose of measles, mumps and rubella vaccine at entryto middle or junior high school.

(e): This dose may not be required, depending on which meningitis vaccine is used.