Organization encourages students get vaccinated before start of school

Immunize El Paso is encouraging parents to get their child vaccinated before the start of school.

It reported that Texas had the highest case of the mumps last year in more than 20 years, in part because of the increasing number of unvaccinated children.

The state requires children who will be enrolled in school to be vaccinated, the state also allows parents to opt out.

Parents who want their child exempt must fill out a form provided by the Texas Department of State Health Services. Exemptions include medical reasons, active duty in the U.S. military and reasons of conscience, including a religious belief.

“We’ve seen an increase especially with the introduction of anti-vaccine groups, there’s a lot of big money behind it. We ask people to do their research and talk to their pediatrician,” said Daniel Acosta, director of Immunize El Paso.

ABC-7 reached out to the four largest districts in El Paso County to find out how many students were exempt from vaccines.

The Ysleta Independent School District reported that last year 101 students were exempt, YISD has more than 43,000 students.

Socorro Independent School District reported 18 students were exempt last school year, SISD has more than 45,000 students.

Immunize El Paso hosts immunization clinics throughout the Borderland to ensure children are immunized prior to returning to school.

The non-profit organization provides low-cost immunization services to qualifying children under the Texas Vaccines for Children Program.

Clinics are also able to accept Texas & New Mexico Medicaid as well as many major insurance plans. No child is denied services due to inability to pay.

Families in New Mexico can also opt-out of vaccines. In Dona Ana County, the New Mexico Department of Health reported only 177 children between the ages 0-18 have opted out.

There are 57,921 children between those ages in Dona Ana County.