To reduce long clinic lines, the Flathead City-County Health Department is kicking off an effort this summer to get children immunized early.

Children in public and private schools in Montana are required to have specific, age-dependent immunizations. Lisa Dennison, the county infectious disease coordinator, said to encourage early immunizations, children who are vaccinated before August will be entered into drawings to win prizes.

“We’ve always seen people who come in at the last minute before school starts to get vaccinated,” Dennison said. “The last thing you want to do at the end of your summer is sit in a line for hours. That’s part of what we’re hoping to avoid.”

Children starting kindergarten through 18 years old are eligible to enter the Health Department’s “early bird” drawing.

The effort comes after the county has experienced a slight drop in immunizations due to families opting out of vaccinations.

In the last year, there has been a more than a 2 percent increase in exemptions in conditional attendance, according to health department records. That means a child has to wait a period of time between certain vaccinations. So while a child may plan on having a vaccination, he or she may have to wait to get it part way through the school year.

There also has been an almost 2 percent increase in religious exemptions since the 2014-15 school year. That accounts for more than 7 percent of the number of enrolled students in Flathead County, according to the records.

Dennison said she believes the increase was related to a local chickenpox outbreak in 2015 that led the state to require the varicella vaccination.

“We knew there would be a lot of push-back to the new vaccination,” Dennison said.

She said many people already had chickenpox. She said some people didn’t want to go through the effort of proving they didn’t need the shot by providing medical records or getting blood samples.

Or, she said, people didn’t trust the new vaccine.

“So a lot of people just opted to do the religious exception, which isn’t the most appropriate use of that exception,” Dennison said.

Dennison said children are better protected as they start the school year if they get early vaccinations.

It usually takes about two weeks for a body to build up immunity against a disease after vaccination. Getting vaccinated early in the summer gives a child’s immune system more time to develop antibodies before school starts, Dennison said.

The Health Department will hold seven drawings until July 29, with two drawings in June and one every Friday in July. Children who get their vaccinations will be entered into the next drawing.

There will be two to three separate prizes for each drawing, with prizes such as iPod Nanos, Kindle Fires, bikes and fun summer passes. After receiving an immunization, a child can pick one prize he or she would like to be entered to win.

“It’s important for families to understand what vaccinations each kid, at each age, needs to attend school,” Dennison said. “But it’s also important to know about other vaccinations like the influenza vaccination, which isn’t required, but is also important.”

Flathead County had 596 confirmed influenza cases this season.

According to the Department of Public Health and Human Services, that represents the highest number of reported cases in Montana — although Madison County had the highest percentage of cases per capita with roughly 135 cases per 10,000 people.

Statewide, the lowest percentage of influenza cases reported were youths between 5 and 17. In peak season, the state reported roughly 10 cases within this age range per 100,000 people. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend a yearly flu vaccine for everyone 6 months of age and older to protect against flu viruses.

Immunizations are offered at the Health Department in Kalispell during daily walk-in clinic hours and in Columbia Falls and Whitefish on the second Tuesday of each month.

For more information or to see department clinic hours, go to http://flatheadhealth.org/community-health-services/immunizations.

No child will be denied a vaccination due to inability to pay.

For a list of vaccinations by age, visit https://goo.gl/c68Scj.

Reporter Katheryn Houghton may be reached at 758-4436 or by email at [email protected].