The number of Flathead Valley students not in compliance with a new state law mandating immunizations has decreased since the initial Oct. 1 deadline set by the Legislature.

The two new vaccines students are required to get to attend school are for varicella (chickenpox) and pertussis (whooping cough).

Kalispell Public Schools and the Columbia Falls School District offered a grace period for students to get vaccinated beyond the Oct. 1 deadline.

For Kalispell Public Schools, the extension ended Monday; Oct. 13 was the extended deadline for Columbia Falls.

Students who were still not in compliance after their school districts’ respective deadlines haven’t been allowed to attend school.

On Monday, 316 Kalispell students weren’t allowed to attend class because of lack of vaccinations

However, many cases were resolved that day or within a day, according to Kalispell Superintendent Mark Flatau. By Tuesday, that number dropped below 100 students and continues to drop, Flatau said.

Columbia Falls Superintendent Steven Bradshaw said the district is down to between 10 and 15 students who haven’t yet gotten the required vaccinations since the Oct. 13 deadline.

While the hard line was set in turning students away from attending school, the outcome districts are hoping for is a reduction of chickenpox and whooping cough cases and as a result, “attendance should improve across the board,” Flatau said.

On Monday morning, the Flathead City-County Health Department had an increase of vaccination-seekers that tapered off by the afternoon, according to Hillary Hanson, deputy health officer.

“The schools have done a good job keeping us informed and advising parents on what their plans are and how they are implementing it,” Hanson said.

This has been a busy season overall for administering immunizations, Hanson said.

While the October numbers aren’t yet in, there was an increase in all vaccines — including the flu vaccine, not just varicella and pertussis — given by the health department across all age groups during August and September.

“In August last year we gave 902 immunizations. In August this year we gave 1,505. In September last year we gave 476 immunizations and 1,153 in September this year,” Hanson said. “We anticipate about the same for our October numbers. The October numbers will be at least double of what we have done in the past.”

Hanson said the advantage of the additional required vaccines is a move in the right direction.

“We’re actually one of the last states to put into place the Tdap (tetanus/diphtheria/pertussis) vaccine for pertussis, or whooping cough, which Flathead County has one of the highest incident rates nationwide,” Hanson said. “We had a chickenpox outbreak at the end of the school year last year with middle-school students.

“This law is getting us caught up to where the science is at and what is recommended for school- age children,” she said.

All kindergarten through 12th-grade students must get two doses of the varicella vaccine. Preschool or pre-kindergarten students only need one dose.

If a student has already had a case of chickenpox, documentation from a physician can be accepted in lieu of the vaccine. Additionally, students who already had two doses of the vaccine do not need to repeat it.

Students in seventh through 12th grades are also required to have one dose of the pertussis vaccine. In previous years, only a tetanus/diphtheria shot was required.

For more information about immunizations, visit flatheadhealth.org or call the Flathead City-County Health Department immunization clinic at 751-8110.

Hilary Matheson is a reporter for The Daily Inter Lake. She may be reached at 758-4431 or [email protected].