Concerns rise over report showing Bay Area schools with students not vaccinated for measles

SAN FRANCISCO (KTVU) - A newly released report by the California Department of Public Health shows that in the 2017-2018 school year some Bay Area schools had high numbers of kindergartners entering school without proof of receiving the MMR vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella.

"We are mostly concerned with areas or pockets that have lower rates" said Dr. Chris Farnitano, a Contra Costa County Public Health Department officer.

One of the schools with the lowest vaccination percentages was the Berkeley Rose Waldorf School, a private school.

It showed only 29 percent had received the measles vaccine at a previous campus. The school has now consolidated in south Berkeley.

The vaccination issue has become so highly charged parents were adamant in their refusal to comment to us about it.

The lower vaccination rates are mostly occurring at private schools including Golden Bridges in San Francisco, with 71 percent vaccinated. Another example is the New Village School in Sausalito with only 62 percent.  Ninety-five percent is considered safe.

State law now prohibits parents from avoiding getting their child vaccinated based on their personal beliefs.

State lawmakers are considering a new proposal that would require any medical exemption be approved by the public health department, instead of by individual doctors which is the way it works now.