As measles outbreaks emerge in other parts of the United States, Santa Barbara County is going against the trend with some of the highest childhood vaccination rates in California.

According to the California Department of Public Health, 97% of the county’s kindergartners had all required immunizations for the 2023-24 school year, exceeding the statewide average of 93.7%.

County Public Health Director Mouhanad Hammami said the proof of the county’s strong protection is in its results.

“Our past five years of data show that we did not have one single case of measles or rubella,” he said.

Hammami said that level of community protection is especially crucial for those who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons.

“How you protect them is by vaccinating everybody else, and that is the concept of herd immunity,” Hammami said. “By having healthy individuals who will not get sick, you protect the vulnerable.”

Scroll down to view the vaccination status for each Santa Barbara County school district.

Santa Barbara pediatrician Dr. Dan Brennan said recent outbreaks in other states are a direct consequence of vaccination rates falling below that protective threshold.

“Measles 20 years ago was considered eradicated in the United States, but as the vaccine rate drops in certain areas, those areas then become more vulnerable,” said Brennan, who has practiced in the community for 24 years. “In places where there have been big outbreaks, it’s generally because the community vaccine rates are low.”

The county’s high vaccination rates were the focus of a recent Civil Grand Jury report that also raised concerns of a data “blind spot” for homeschooled children that could affect community-wide herd immunity.

Hammami put the data gap into perspective. 

He explained that his department modeled a worst-case scenario in which 4% to 5% of children were unvaccinated — well above the estimated 1% who are homeschooled — and found that the county would still remain above the 95% herd immunity threshold.

“Even in the worst-case scenario … that still is not going to affect the overall immunity,” Hammami said.

A new method to track vaccination status for all children is already underway, Hammami added.

Assembly Bill 1797, a state law that took effect in 2023, requires providers such as clinics and pharmacies to report all childhood vaccinations to a central state registry.

“Moving forward, we will have a better estimate,” Hammami said. “Now it’s just a matter of catching up.”

Vaccination Rates at Local Schools

Santa Barbara County’s kindergarten immunization rate of 97% for the 2023-24 school year places it ahead of neighboring counties and the state average. 

Ventura County reported a 94.5% rate, and San Luis Obispo County came in at 94.2%, according to the California Department of Public Health.

The numbers also reflect steady progress over time.

Health officials credit the county’s rising vaccination rates to years of consistent outreach, education and coordination with providers that help build community trust. One example is Strive for 95, a local campaign launched in 2014 by Brennan.

“If we can get those vaccine levels above 95%, now we are offering some community-level protection for those people that have cancer, have poor immune systems, are pregnant or just too young to get their vaccines,” Brennan said.

Talking with Parents

For parents navigating complex vaccine information, Brennan recommended starting with a trusted pediatrician and pointed to sources such as healthychildren.org and immunizeca.org as trusted places to start.

“Every parent wants to do the best thing that they can for their children; where we get our information is really important,” he said.

Brennan said most questions he gets from parents center on vaccine schedule, potential side effects and whether certain illnesses are still a real threat.

“I think sometimes parents will ask me, ‘Are these even necessary still?’ because they may assume that since they haven’t heard about polio or measles in their lifetime, it’s no longer an issue,” he said. “But Public Health monitors these diseases very carefully to ensure vaccination levels stay high enough that if one case enters the county, it doesn’t become an outbreak.”