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       Students who are behind on routine vaccinations were kept out of D.C. schools this week, sending parents scrambling for appointments and lining up inside clinics.

       Every year, schools mandate that students have a raft of vaccinations to guard against contagions such as measles, mumps, rubella and hepatitis B. But the local law has historically not been enforced. More than 23,000 students were behind on routine vaccinations at the start of last school year.

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       Officials have pleaded with families to get up to date. Starting Monday, they barred some students from school. From Jackson-Reed High School in Ward 3 to King Elementary in Ward 8, students were turned away from their classrooms until they become immunized against various contagions, a first for their parents.

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       “I had to stay home and miss work,” said Takeyiah Riggins, whose 5-year-old daughter was not allowed to attend school at King Elementary. Riggins, a nursing assistant, said she did not receive any warnings about her daughter’s missing vaccines. “I feel like they should have some understanding.”

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       She spoke with a reporter while waiting in line with dozens of families Tuesday in the crowded lobby of a Children’s National Hospital vaccine clinic in Shaw. Some rushed from work and lined up before the site opened at 5 p.m. Children played games on tablets and iPhones to pass the time.

       District focused on childhood vaccinations as the school year looms

       The D.C. Office of the State Superintendent of Education, which keeps citywide data on attendance, did not answer questions about how many children were turned away from schools this week. And D.C. Health did not answer questions about how many children are behind on shots.

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       Although the city had sent warnings, families were surprised to see enforcement begin. School officials focused on students in pre-K3, kindergarten, seventh and 11th grades, points at which students should have certain vaccinations, including those for chickenpox, tetanus, diphtheria and whooping cough. D.C. students are not required to get coronavirus vaccines.

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       Immunization rates dipped during the pandemic, when many families avoided medical settings and skipped regular doctor appointments. But in the months since children have returned from virtual learning, the numbers have been slow to pick up. About a third of students were still behind on shots in the weeks leading up to this school year.

       The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has estimated that 87.5 percent of D.C. kindergartners were protected against measles, mumps and rubella last school year, below the 95 percent threshold needed for herd immunity. Measles, one of the most contagious diseases, has caused outbreaks in recent years in parts of the country with low vaccination rates. Children who get it can develop serious illnesses and, in some cases, die.

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       “There has been a concerted effort in the pediatric community to try and reengage with families,” said Nathaniel Beers, a pediatrician and executive vice president of community and population health at Children’s National Hospital. Officials have made progress, but “there still have been some families who we have been unable to get caught up.”

       Data shows highest level of vaccine exemptions with kindergartners

       City and school officials urged families to get up to date in August, when they shared plans to expand clinics and make it easier to submit medical forms. D.C. Public Schools sent reminders in September and November. The final notice from the District, shared Friday, warned that students who were still out of compliance would be “temporarily excluded from school.”

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       Emily Mechner, whose 16-year-old son was turned away from Jackson-Reed High School, said she never saw the first message that the school system said it sent to noncompliant families, but she did receive the second notice in the mail after Thanksgiving. She started getting emails, robocalls and other messages Friday.

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       “That was the first sign I had they were actually going to do anything,” she said. Her son was missing the second dose of the meningococcal ACWY vaccine, which helps protect against meningitis and blood poisoning, according to the CDC.

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       The teen described to his mom a “scene of chaos” as students showed up to school and were sent back home, she said. “The system has been very casual about it for all of the years my kids have been in DCPS,” Mechner added. “No one really ever cared before if they were a few months behind.”

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       Mechner said she first tried to book a pediatrician visit over the summer, but the office was backed up for months. She made another attempt last week but was unable to get through. Up against the Monday deadline, she scheduled an appointment for Sunday at CVS, but the store canceled that morning, Mechner said, so she rebooked online. That appointment was also canceled.

       Local students will no longer need to vaccinate against coronavirus

       On Monday morning, she looked for the vaccine at two different Walgreens stores. She waited for hours. Both were out of stock. “I wasted half my day chasing vaccines around town,” Mechner said. “I don’t think it’s right to make examples out of people or to kick them out of school for this.”

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       Mechner is not alone. Beers said Tuesday that appointment availability with Children’s National Hospital had “substantially waned in the last 96 hours.” There does not appear to be a shortage of vaccines, but there is a strain on medical professionals.

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       “There’s certainly, in health care across the board, ongoing staffing challenges that mean practices are not as efficient as they have been in the past, in being able to see as many children as they have in the past,” Beers said, adding that doctors are also contending with an uptick in respiratory viruses.

       Solie Williams, a catering coordinator, is waiting for a health appointment scheduled for the end of this month. When her 13-year-old son arrived at school Monday, he was not allowed to go to class until his mother proved he had an upcoming appointment, she said.

       “It’s not my fault the doctors and the nurses are short-staffed,” Williams said, waiting at the clinic in Shaw. “It’s very inconvenient for a lot of people. I feel bad because he missed his lessons today.” Dozens of other families stood in line for shots shortly after the clinic opened, and more were on the way. A staff member later informed them only 130 would be seen.

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